Mmegi

The challenge of academic underachievement

A healing process begins with an accurate identification of where it hurts most, followed by a relentless massaging of the affected region. And so is a process of navigating, successfully, the challenge of academic underachievement presently afflicting public schools.

Where does it hurt most in education? The question is made relevant by the fact that not all levels of education are doing badly. Though under resourced, the primary school sub-sector continues to outperform other levels.

It is a sub-sector characterised by unrelenting and totalitarian focus on quality. Emphasis on the principle of leaving no child behind is working well for the sub-sector, further motivating the schools at this level to render their best selves. The sub-sector places its bets not on resources but smartly on the creativity and innovative prowess of the teachers. This alone explains the sector’s continuing story of miraculous survival and prosperity.

Editor's Comment
Medicine before ConCourt

Yet, while this crisis ravages the communities, the administration is championing a major, resource-intensive legal reform and the establishment of a dedicated Constitutional Court. While the principle of strengthening constitutional justice is commendable, the timing is profoundly misplaced. When the President himself admits the government coffers are limited, every thebe and every moment of political capital must be directed towards the...

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