How to produce failure � A Gantsi case study
Innocent Selatlhwa | Friday January 27, 2017 15:49
Gantsi regional education director, Mpho Isaiah faces another round of difficult questions after yet another year of failure in the district.
Gantsi region schools perform poorly annually, with Tshimologo Junior Secondary School named the worst performer in the recently released JCE.
According to Isaiah, a number of factors are affecting exam performances in the area, ranging from non-conducive environments for teachers and learners, unhappy teachers, poor parenting and student delinquency.
He says although efforts are made to engage parents in their children’s education, many are happy to sit on the sidelines, apathetic.
“Most of these parents work on farms and the students are in boarding schools. It is not easy for parents to break away and come talk to the school about education. “In addition, many parents are uneducated and do not appear to understand the value of education. This is why even when learners abscond, the parents don’t send them back to school.”
When students run off, authorities find it difficult to trace them as they often disappear into the farms.
In fact, students are a key factor in the poor results, Isaiah says. The director says many do not apply themselves.
“The students here, just like their parents, are resisting our attempts to show them the importance of education in schools. They abscond to go with their parents to farms. Some even leave for a whole term and come back to bully others, but due to Government’s affirmative action, we cannot expel those we think do not deserve places in our schools,” the director reveals.
Many students are unruly and cases of bullying are high, particularly when the students are older than most and are beneficiaries of the affirmative action policy.
“It is a common sight to see students drinking alcohol with their parents while wearing school uniform. They even roam the streets during school hours caring less about who sees them because they do not want school and know that they can never be expelled,” says Isaiah, adding that many abuse drugs particularly dagga. Government has put in place support services to try to encourage parents and learners to be more interested in education. The efforts, however keep hitting snags.
“The government spends a lot of money on transportation for parents and children to come to school. Government follows them up, provides them with free uniforms, accommodation and other things, but still their interest in education is low,” Isaiah laments.
However, it is not all about the parents and students. School management is also lacking, Isaiah concedes.
“We need to do more to train our school heads on how they can help the students and teachers. It is with positive aggressive energy from the school heads that we can be able to improve grades in schools,” he says.
Isaiah says the teachers in the area are demotivated by the environment they are operating in.
“Our teachers are unhappy. They stay for long here without being transferred. There are issues of accommodation and lack of resources they need in class. There is no way you can expect teachers to outdo themselves when they are disgruntled.” Isaiah’s department plans to push for more transfers of teachers this year, addressing an oft-repeated concern for those who operate in Gantsi.
The infrastructure is also not the best.
He adds: “Our learning environment is very poor as we lack fundamental resources such as classrooms, laboratories and many other resources needed to produce good marks. Our budget is too little to meet our needs.”