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Sunday, 07 March 2010 15:10
Two Stories about the power of getting a good education
by Doron Isaacs
I read this piece at the EE Read-In on Saturday 6 March, 2010. It was held at the EE Bookery on Roeland Street, Cape Town. The Tambo extracts come from Beyond the Engeli Mountains, the biography of Tambo’s life by Luli Callinicos. The Bizos extracts come from his autobiography Odyssey to Freedom. OR Tambo
Oliver Tambo’s life and education show the painful but exhilarating contradictions between modern education and traditional life, and the resulting difficulties for identity, decision-making and leadership. Tambo’s boyhood name was Kaizana. His grandfather, named Tambo, was a Zulu who migrated into Xhosa-speaking Pondoland, the last tribal area to fall under colonial control. Born in 1917, Kaizana was named after the German King, Kaizer Wilhelm, who was at that time battling England, Tambo’s colonial enemy, in WWI.
How did Oliver Tambo get his name? His Biographer, Luli Callinicos tells the story:
On his first day of school, Kaizana discovered something that was as important as the reading, writing and arithmetic his father hoped the teacher would instill in the young boy. He learnt that schooling also required him to manage another identity.
‘The teacher approached me and asked me for my name. I have him my name and he said, “No, you are giving me your home name. I want your school name.” I told him I did not know my school name. “Well then,” he said, “you also have a second name, which should be the name of one of your ancestors who has died. So tomorrow you bring your name and surname.”
‘Returning home, I told my parents that the teacher did not want my name… The following morning, my father told me that my school name would be Oliver and the second name, Tambo…’
Wednesday, 03 March 2010 17:43
24 Hour 'Read-In'
Equal Education, a movement of learners, parents, teachers and community members working for quality and equality in South African Education, is hosting a 24 hour ‘Read-In’ at The Bookery at 20 Roeland Street, Cape Town (the Old Charly’s Bakery). The 'Read-In' begins on Saturday 6th March at 10h00 continues on until Sunday the 7th March at 10h00. The Bookery is the home of Equal Education’s book drive, which aims to collect 100 000 books to be redistributed to rural and township school libraries. You can support this initiative by attending the Read-In as well as donating books that are in good-as-new condition which you think may grab or stir the imagination of a child or young adult. The 'Read-In' will cater for all. There will be storytelling, engaging book readings as well as discussion.
Thursday, 25 February 2010 15:42
Interview on ETV News Featured
by Equal Education - Admin
Doron Isaacs, EE Coordinator, interviewed about the Campaign for School Libraries on ETV News.
Tuesday, 23 February 2010 12:48
EE's Statement on Tokiso Review and SADTUThe Tokiso Review on labour strikes found that the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) was responsible for 42 % of all working days lost due to industrial action between 1995- 2009. There are two important factors to consider when analyzing this statistic. This first is SADTU a proportion of the labour force, and the second is the 2007 public sector strike.
With a membership of 240,000 SADTU is the largest union in the public service and the second largest union in the country representing nearly two-thirds of South Africa's educators, and over 13% of COSATU’s paid-up membership. A high proportion of working days lost are therefore to be expected (although not 42%).
The 2007 public sector strike explains the disproportionately high percentage, as explained by Tanya Venter, the CEO of Tokiso, quoted in Business Day:
“(The 2007 strike was) the largest in SA’s history by the public sector, of which Sadtu was the largest participating union. Between 1995 and 2009, the number of work-days lost to strikes per annum was on average between 1- and 2-million, however in 2007, this trend line spiked to 13-million workdays lost.... The majority of work- days lost that are attributed to Sadtu fall within the 2007 strike. Indeed, this is confirmed by the Tokiso Review statistic on the number of strikes (as opposed to working days lost) over the 1995 to 2009 period, where only 2% of strikes fell within the health and education sectors.”
Although the 2007 strike had a very debilitating effect on education, there is a clear difference between one massive strike as compared to the 15 years of lost working days which a superficial, and incorrect, reading of the Tokiso Review implies. Teachers of this country have spent many years fighting for a decent salary in the form of an OSD (Occupation Specific Dispensation), which they were finally able to attain through the 2007 strike. It is unforgivable that the details of this agreement have not been fully and punctually adhered to by government.
In light of these facts, any response that calls for education to be made an ‘essential service’, thereby making strike action almost impossible, is extremist and amounts to a “knee jerk” reaction. More importantly, it turns a blind eye to the realities faced by teachers every day.
Some have argued that, days lost to strike action, are the core reason for the increased failure rate in South Africa last year and that SADTU cannot coexist with quality education. In this press statement Equal Education offers a more nuanced view.
SADTU must take some blame for the crisis in education in South Africa, but it is a grave mistake to see the destruction of teacher unions and teacher rights as the path to quality education.
Many of those attacking SADTU are doing so unconstructively. They show no understanding of the inequalities in education, inherited from the past, some of which are being perpetuated today. Like the majority of learners in this country, many of our teachers have to endure teaching under trees or in mud schools. The majority of rural and township schools lack laboratories, computer labs and adequate textbooks. Only 7% of schools have functional libraries; this in a country where for the majority of people most homes lack books. Staff rooms are cramped and inadequate for the marking of work and projects. In many schools the classes are 60 learners or more. In these schools the teachers are responsible for twice the number of students and must mark twice as many tests, projects and homework assignments, but are paid less than their counterparts in middle class schools.
Most of our teachers were educated at schools that gave them skills based on an inferior Bantu Education. Their own school experiences left them with an inadequate foundation. We want our teachers to provide a knowledge-rich and inspiring, yet structured and disciplined educational environment but their own school experiences did not provide them with an example to emulate. They went on to attend teacher training colleges that were sub-standard. The in-service training that has been put in place to compensate for this disadvantage has been inadequate.
When Outcomes Based Education (OBE) was introduced most teachers were given less than a week’s training. The notion that teachers were now ‘facilitators’ and later ‘educators’, who should not impose knowledge or structure on their classes, resulted in mass confusion and a regression in educational quality. Only now, more than a decade later, the Minister and the President are talking about textbooks, lesson plans and pacing to ensure that the curriculum is covered.
Moreover, the focus on days lost to strikes distracts from the more serious problems of days lost to understandable factors such as overwork and stress, and unacceptable factors such late-coming and absenteeism after pay day.
We call on government to improve the conditions of work and pay of our teachers, to increase the supply of teachers through universities and high-quality colleges, and to invest in ongoing in-service training and support. We call on government and unions to reduce barriers to entry into the teaching profession so that university graduates from a variety of fields can spend a few years performing community service as teachers in poor schools, and so that foreign teachers with good qualifications and experience can teach in poor schools. We will campaign for these things.
Equal Education acknowledges that SADTU has the right to freedom of association, expression and the right to strike legally like all people in this country. These rights are fundamental rights for the workers (including teachers) to negotiate wage increases and come together in a union (as a collective) and bargain with the authorities. In a society such as ours, where teachers are overworked, underpaid and disrespected, we should not prevent teachers from organizing peacefully and legally.
It is our belief that our whole society and the Department of Education in particular, is failing the children of this country by continuing to disregard their teachers. We have put our children and therefore our future in the hands of these professionals. Our care and regard towards them will be reflected in the quality of our workforce, our ability to grow as a nation and the overall position of our nation on the world stage.
However, teachers and SADTU are indeed partly to be blamed. Equal Education believes that SADTU, the biggest teacher’s union in our country, has on many occasions been a distraction to education and has contributed to the crisis in education in this country. It has prevented learning when it has called illegal strikes and used force against other educators and learners. Equal Education condemns any use of violence against teachers and children and any illegal strikes. Secondly, it has reinforced society’s low regard for teachers when drunk and poor performing teachers have been protected. Thirdly, it has focused all its efforts on protecting low-performance amongst teachers, and demanding salary increases, but has neglected to use the same urgency to demand teacher training and support from the government to improve teaching and learning.
The members of Equal Education expect more from the teachers of this country. We expect them to arrive on time, well-prepared and maximize teaching and learning time. We ask teachers to read more, and embrace opportunities to increase their knowledge and expertise. We expect teachers to go beyond the letter of their contracts, to offer extra classes, to offer sports and extra-murals in the afternoons, and to be available to help students, particularly the poor and working class children, to pass their exams and get the most out of school experience. We will campaign for these things, and while we will support and respect our teachers, we will hold them to these high standards.
Monday, 22 February 2010 12:39
South Africa: Equal Education’s ’Bookery’ Opens its doors in Cape Town
by Equal Education - Admin
The book collection drive that EE is running in Cape Town, based in Roeland Street, was reported on in a French website that features stories from Africa. To read the article, click here.
Monday, 22 February 2010 10:10
EE's 'Bookery' Opens its doors in Cape TownDonate books to the EE Bookery to stock school libraries across Cape Town. School libraries in South Africa are in a desperate state. Only 7.23 % of public schools have functional libraries; 13.47% have a library space without books or a librarian; and a massive 79.3% do not have a library.
Equal Education (EE) is committed to addressing this issue under the banner of our ‘Campaign for School Libraries’. ‘The Bookery’, situated where Charly’s Bakery used to be (at 20 Roeland Street Cape Town) is the home of one branch of this campaign: the EE book drive.
 Please donate your favourite books in top condition!
Friday, 19 February 2010 10:51
Equal Education Statement on Minister Pravin Gordhan’s budget speechEqual Education welcomes the Minister of Finance, Pravin Gordhan’s budget speech. We commend the Minister for allocating R165bn to education, and in particular we commend the R 2.7bn allocated to the workbook programme, in order to improve literacy and numeracy in South African schools. This is in line with government’s plan to make education one of its key priorities and it remains the biggest item in South Africa’s budget. However, the allocation of large resources will not yield results unless the deep inequalities in education are dealt with. Spending on teacher salaries, which constitutes the vast majority of the education budget, must be pro-poor, but at present it is not. In fact, because teachers in middle-class public schools are better qualified, government spends more on teaching for middle class kids than it does on the poor. This reinforces historic inequalities. Further, these inequalities are deepened because wealthy schools are able to supplement their government funding with their own funds and this means that they are able to spend more on education than poor schools.
Saturday, 13 February 2010 12:16
EE Volunteer joins 'Teach for America'
by Equal Education - Admin
Desire Tucker volunteered with Equal Education in 2009. She was loved by all. Here she writes about her next major project: Teach for America. Teach For America aims to end educational inequity—the reality that in the United States, where a child is born determines his or her educational outcomes and life prospects. We are working with a great sense of urgency to build the movement to eliminate educational inequity by enlisting our nation's most promising future leaders in the effort. Their vision is that one day, all children in this nation will have the opportunity to attain an excellent education. Teach for America recruits outstanding recent college graduates from all backgrounds and career interests to commit to teach for two years in urban and rural public schools. They provide the training and ongoing support necessary to ensure their success as teachers in low-income communities.
Saturday, 09 January 2010 13:23
Matric Results 2009 – EE Press ReleaseThe 2009 matric results confirm that there is a deep crisis in South African education. The drop in the pass rate continues a trend:
A few comments on pass-rates generally:
Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga is correct in her statement that “We have not yet turned the corner in education”. In general, her frank and self-critical assessment of the matric results is to be welcomed. 2010 will be another difficult year due partly to the disruption to education expected by the FIFA World Cup. Over the next few days, weeks and months the question for the country is not how to increase the pass-rate in 2010 by 2%, but rather how to increase the pass-rate by 10% over 10 years and by 20% over 20 years.
Thursday, 07 January 2010 07:14
SA’s ‘incomes-based’ education system perpetuates inequality
by Doron Isaacs
IN LONG Walk to Freedom, Nelson Mandela places enormous hope in education. “Education is the great engine of personal development,” he writes. “It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that the son of a mineworker can become the head of the mine, that a child of farm- workers can become the president.” Many people know this quote. When Mandela wrote these words he knew that he was living proof of their truth. What he said next is less well-known: “It is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another.” That is certainly sound advice from a father to a son or daughter, especially during the months before the matric exams. And all across the land the grade 12s of 2009 were exhorted, challenged, even pleaded with, in terms that resembled Mandela’s. But both statements deserve close scrutiny because neither one bears much resemblance to the reality facing young people. More often than not, education is a great engine of social division, a system that ensures that the daughter of the peasant becomes a call- centre temp; that the son of the mineworker becomes a street sweeper; and that the child of farm workers becomes a domestic servant. In SA today, education is perpetuating inequality, not ending it. For most young people, what they have — brains, dreams and determination — cannot make up for they were not given: textbooks, libraries, calculators and well-educated teachers. In a recent ruling, the Indonesian Supreme Court took this logic to a dramatic and radical conclusion. National tests, it held, must be suspended, until all students can write them on an equal footing. The court has effectively told the government that equitable education is a prerequisite for fair national exams. Whether this will spur the Indonesian government into action, or dangerously disrupt a fragile education system, remains to be seen, but the ruling certainly cuts to the heart of an unjust and unconstitutional reality. Writing recently in the City Press, members of Blackwash, a black consciousness youth group, put it like it is: “After this year’s results are announced, many individual black learners in rural and township schools who did exceptionally well will be praised for their hard work and dedication. We will be told by the newspapers that all black learners who work hard can also do well. But this is a lie. The majority of white learners pass well whether they work hard or not and black learners fail either way.” The 2008 matric results, disaggregated by race , seem to confirm this. Take KwaZulu-Natal: last year 99,5% of white students passed, with 73,9% attaining adequate grades for university entrance, whereas only 53% of black students passed, with 13% at university entrance level. In 2003, all g rade 6 pupils in the Western Cape took standard numeracy tests. The pass-rate in the integrated former Model C schools was 62,4%. In the African township schools it was 0,1% or one in 1000. Six years on, this is the year-group nervously awaiting matric results. It is tempting to see the present as a simple perpetuation of the past, but now it is wealth, not discrimination based on skin colour, that limits life chances. Those who can pay high school and university fees buy a real chance at making a success of life. The rest must be sublimely talented and lucky to escape unemployment or grindingly monotonous work. After all, Mandela himself was raised by the Thembu paramount chief, who could afford to educate him. Matric is not a talent competition in which you get judged on self-taught brilliance. School is a marathon where everyone runs the same course and even the most gifted athlete, denied running shoes, a route map and hydration is easily passed by the club runner in soft Nikes sipping Power ade. The members of Equal Education, who are both black and white, know this well. EE, as it is known, is a movement of young people, and their parents and teachers, that faces this reality and struggles to change it. At the same time members are motivated to do their best, even under unfair conditions. During the past year E E ran a campaign against late-coming in Khayelitsha, which dramatically increased teaching time in some schools. Nonetheless, EE members from Kraaifontein to Alexandra wait in trepidation for their final results. Many of the educational problems of the past decade have rightly been tied to outcomes-based education (OBE), but as we move past OBE, an even bigger leviathan — incomes-based education — is coming into view. Conservatives argue that resources have little to do with outcomes. But ample evidence from national and multi-country studies over the past decade demonstrates that a range of resources — particularly textbooks and library books — are indispensable. Researchers such as Servaas van den Berg and Nick Taylor have reached similar conclusions, noting also that the capacity to use resources efficiently is essential. Most vital of all are skilled teachers, a diminishing resource requiring large investment by the government to revive and replenish. In most countries, student achievement graphs look like a one-humped camel: the majority of students are neither weak nor exceptional . In SA, though, Prof Brahm Fleisch of Wits University has described the “bimodal distribution of achievement” in South African education, meaning that there are a fair number of kids doing really well, a great deal doing very poorly and a small amount in the middle. What is this two-humped camel if not the perpetuation of educational apartheid? It is not a policy of racism but the active protection of privilege and an indifference to the ma jority. Just 11 days after being released from prison, Mandela said: “Education is an area that needs the attention of all our people, students, parents, teachers, workers and all others.” This year we must heed this call, whether as pupils, teachers, governing body members, parents or activists. Our national development and the lives of young people depend on our efforts. ~*~
Sunday, 20 December 2009 09:28
News24: NGO slams education department
by Equal Education - Admin
This article appeared here on the News24 site on 2009-12-17 18:58. Johannesburg - A claim by the Department of Education that providing decent school libraries is "unattainable" is a denial of the right to basic education, the Equal Education research organisation said on Thursday. "This is a denial of the right to basic education to which every person is entitled [to] and a violation of the rights to equality and human dignity, organisation spokesperson Lukhanyo Mangona said in a statement. The remark was reported to have been by the Hope Mokgatlhe, the spokesperson for Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga, in a newspaper supplement in November. Mokgatlhe was reported to have said that a stand-alone library for every school "would be unattainable, given the historical neglect of this". She said the department had focused on trying to ensure access to resources in a practical and implementable way. Six drafts This involved creating and improving classroom library collections, mobile libraries, resources for schools in community libraries and stand-alone libraries that served a cluster of schools. Mangona called on Motshekga to distance herself from the comments. He said according to the 2007 National Education Infrastructure Management System report only 7% of public schools in SA had functional libraries of any kind. "These 7% of public schools that have libraries are the former model-C schools who are able to establish libraries and employ librarians through their own funds, collected through fees," he said. "Since 1997 the DoE has produced six drafts of a national school libraries policy [and] none have been adopted as official policy. "The DoE offers no specialists school librarian posts. All posts are for teachers and most schools cannot spare a teacher to run a library because of high learner, teacher ratios." Mangona said the department closed its School Libraries Unit in 2002. Regulations In November 2008 the department published for comment the National Minimum Uniform Norms and Standards for School Infrastructure. This published item stated that every large primary school and every large secondary school should have a library of 80m². "The regulations still remain unconfirmed by the minister and therefore are of no assistance to teachers, learners or education planners," he said. According to Equal Education, to build 80m² libraries in the approximately 20 000 schools in need, would cost significantly less than the 10 World Cup stadiums. "If a national roll-out of school libraries was undertaken over a 10 year period, including infrastructure, materials, training of libraries, and salaries for full-time library administrators, the annual cost would be 1.5% of the department's R139bn annual budget," Mangona said. "After the first 10 years, once infrastructure, materials and training have been provided, the cost would reduce to 0.9% of the DoE's annual budget [and] this is very affordable and not 'unattainable'."
Thursday, 17 December 2009 11:54
EE rejects DoE's statement on school librariesResponse to DoE’s comment on school libraries
Thursday, 10 December 2009 22:14
EE & Civil Society Statement on refugee crisis at the Central Methodist ChurchStatement from civil society organizations on resolving the refugee crisis at the Central Methodist Church, Johannesburg 8th December, 2009 The following organizations would like to express our grave concerns regarding the humanitarian crisis that faces homeless people, particularly Zimbabwean migrants, who are seeking shelter at the Central Methodist Church (CMC) in downtown Johannesburg. We commend the selfless intervention of Bishop Paul Verryn and his colleagues at the CMC who, for several years, have responded to the refugee crisis with compassion and kindness. They have recognized that the people fleeing Zimbabwe are human beings in need of comfort and protection. Bishop Verryn and others have responded in the spirit called for from all of us by our Constitution. In keeping with its mission, the church has not closed its doors to those in need. Instead it offers people protection from xenophobia and from harassment by some members of the police; it gives people a sense of community when they are far away from home. It has also been able to provide people with networks that have linked them to health care services, skills development, educational opportunities, recreation and work. However, the present situation that faces those living in the church is not sustainable.
Wednesday, 09 December 2009 12:59
Playing By(e) the Books
by Equal Education - Admin
By Ilham Rawoot, Published Mon 30 Nov 2009 in The Teacher. (Click here for original article.) Four thousand learners, teachers and parents marched from Salt River to the Cape Town city centre recently calling for the establishment of a library at every school in South Africa. A staggering 93% of schools do not have functioning libraries, according to statistics of the department of education. The march, Walk for School Libraries, was organised by Equal Education, a community-based organisation based in Cape Town with an activist base that includes learners, teachers, parents, academics and international volunteers. Its library campaign is part of its work for "quality and equality in South African education". The campaign demands the implementation of the government's National Policy on School Libraries. Its slogan is "one school, one library, one librarian." "What makes this campaign fresh is that it's kids [participating]," says Professor Genevieve Hart, associate professor in the University of the Western Cape's department of library and information science, and member of the Campaign for School Libraries advisory committee. "Traditionally libraries weren't cool things, but learners seem to have grasped the need for them," she says. "If they want to leave school with the skills they need for university and for their careers, they need libraries." One of the learners involved in the campaign is Siyasanga Qomayi, a grade 12 learner at Luhlaza High School in Khayelitsha, near Cape Town. Luhlaza is one of the few schools in the area that has a functioning library and Qomayi sees the negative effects on her peers who are at schools without libraries. "My friends at those schools struggle," she says. "They have to go to a public library where there is not enough information. They have to travel long distances to get to a public library and it is not safe." Also, says Hart, public library staff say they are "swamped" with learners. "In one rural community one public library serves 200 schools." Hart says that, ideally, librarians should be able to work with learners on their projects. This is mostly impossible in public libraries. And many learners don't have access to public libraries anyway. "They come out of school at 2pm and a taxi takes them home -- how are they doing their projects?" says Hart. Equal Education's work started early in 2008 with six people who spent their mornings sitting in on classes in Western Cape township schools to check the situation there. In the afternoon they met to run workshops. After a few months they organised their first campaign, which was about the problem of broken windows. A year later the libraries campaign started and so far the organisers have collected 17 000 signatures from people calling for:
"Already the Western Cape education department has accepted one of our major demands," says Doron Isaacs, a coordinator for Equal Education. He says that is the demand for allocating 10% of the learning and teaching materials budget for libraries. But Equal Education says this commitment cannot result in the sudden provision of libraries. And there is also a critical shortage of librarians. Hart says many schools have books that have been donated, but that these lie around in boxes. "A room full of wonderful resources is nothing without someone trained in literacy information who can engage with teachers and learners." She says that the number of qualified librarians has dropped and that there is a vicious cycle. "Why would anyone study for a librarianship degree if there are no positions?" she asks. Another key obstacle to the establishment of libraries at schools appears to be a policy impasse. The National Library Transformation Charter, which is in its sixth draft, was drawn up by the national department of arts and culture. It calls for a national policy on libraries. But it has not been implemented yet and there is no date set for this. Hope Mokgatlhe, a spokesperson for the national department of education, says the department has focused on trying to ensure access to resources in a practical and implementable way. This involves creating and improving classroom library collections, mobile libraries, resources for schools in community libraries and stand-alone libraries that serve a cluster of schools. A stand-alone library for every school would be unattainable, given the historical neglect of this, Mokgatlhe says. But there is hope, says Hart. "I don't think our advocacy so far has failed," she says. "This march should have happened a long time ago." Yoliswa Dwane, Equal Education's head of policy, seems less positive. "I'd rather have the education department taking this up," she said. "I don't think the education department will push for something it was not a part of from the beginning."
Monday, 30 November 2009 12:22
Windows to Change
by Equal Education - Admin
(Published in the Financial Mail on 11 Sept 2009. Link to the original article here.) Over the past five years, Luhlaza Senior Secondary School in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, accumulated more than 500 broken windows. Pupils and teachers accepted this as an unpleasant reality. They shivered through winter, complained to one another and stuck pieces of cardboard over the holes. Then a small activist grouping popped up in the school in the middle of last year, and rallied students around a demand to the principal that he fix the windows. But the school could come up with only R5 000 - far short of the R17 000 quoted for the repairs. This didn't stop the pupils. They petitioned the district office and provincial officials of the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) and launched a public campaign, holding meetings and writing letters to the Cape Times. Within months (which included some intimidating encounters with local education officials), the WCED came up with what was asked for and more: R700 000 to fix everything. The victory of the broken windows gave tremendous momentum to the group's activities. Equal Education, as it is known, now has a core of about 500 members, some from beyond Khayelitsha. They attend weekly meetings and seminars, and run campaigns.
Thursday, 26 November 2009 20:33
Blog covers EE campaign
by Equal Education - Admin
There is a great blog called "SA Libraries in the News". It covers news and views about school libraries. Lately its coverage has been almost exclusively devoted to the EE Campaign for School Libraries. Keep up the great blogging. See the blog here.
Saturday, 14 November 2009 12:41
EE understands COSAS anger but condemns their violence13 November 2009 EQUAL EDUCATION PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION Equal Education condemns the disruption of examinations and the violence used on learners, teachers & against school resources at Thembelihle High School by members of The Congress of South African Students [COSAS] on Friday 13 November 2009.
Wednesday, 11 November 2009 14:22
If you carry the word you can change the world!
by Bayanda Mazwi
MY NAME IS BAYANDA MAZWI AND I AM DOING GRADE 8 AT KWAMFUNDO SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL, IN KHAYELITSHA. Do you know how many children are out there whose lives depend on knowledge? Do you know they are not getting knowledge? But their belief and hope and demand is to get good education. In Khayelitsha out of 54 schools less than 5 have libraries that work. In Mitchells Plain and Manenberg they also suffer the same. In South Africa only 7% of schools have libraries that work. Children should learn to love reading, but how is that supposed to be when they don’t have a school library? A library is place where learners can get source of information and find books they need. Young people need to know how to select the good out of the bad information. A library should not only be where we find information but even a place where we debate, find ideas and open our minds. We need to develop and teach each other about things like career choices, STI’s and our legal rights. In Equal Education we know our rights and that is why we are marching today. In any school, the performance of all learners increases by 10% to25% when a funded and stocked library is added to a school. I get 75% in history. But if my school had a library I would be getting 85% or 100%! That is why young people need resources, books and equipment. That is why learners, teacher, parents need to be informed on the value of school libraries. What is this education we are searching for in libraries? A good should make the very best of children personalities, talents, mental and physical abilities. All this education is based on reading and writing. How can our careers and lives belong to us if we can’t read and write? You have to listen to what you read in order to remember the words. If you carry the word you can change the world. Keep an open mind, avoid interruption, don’t be defensive, refrain from judging others and listen in the way you would like other to listen to you. And that’s why we need to stand up and demand what belongs to us! Education! ~*~ This speech was delivered on September 22, 2009 at City Hall, Cape Town.
Wednesday, 11 November 2009 13:58
How can we make this country great?
by Phathiswa Shushwana
How can we make this country great? Firstly… freedom and equality do not really exist because there are still people whose rights are being violated, but the government is not doing enough about it. Equality means being treated, respected, loved, cared for, equally regardless of what or who you are. Making this country great does not take only money. It’s just freedom, equality, education and knowledge, joy, beauty of reading, writing and counting, power of youth. Saying all these could take me all day because our so-called democratic country still needs more to make it great. Freedom can make this country great if every South African citizen could have equal opportunities. Equality can make this country great, if everyone, young or old, girl or boy, could be treated, valued and considered as equals, regardless of how and who they are. Education and knowledge can change the way everyone thinks, reacts, talks and does things. Education and knowledge can change people’s lives forever. They can both open minds, open eyes and ears of those who can’t hear, think creatively, or see. Minister Motshekga, we are the eyes and ears of education.
It is the process of learning and training people’s minds to develop and acquire skills. What is the joy and beauty of reading? The joy and beauty of reading is preparing you for a brighter future.
What is the Power of Youth? One thing I know is that you can’t open a door in a proper manner without a key. What gives youth power is education: the key to opening locked doors, the key to life, a way to success. Education gives power to everyone who has it. Those who don’t have it are powerless. Do you want power? The power that’s education starts with reading, writing and counting, but people keep saying that we have the power in our hands. Some of our brothers and sisters cannot read, write or count, because they have many problems in their schools. One of these problems is that they don’t have libraries in their schools, those libraries are not fully functioning, or they have to walk a long distance to go to a public library. What is my own story? There is a library in my school but for a Grade 8 or 9 learner, that library is not functioning. The information there is mostly for Grade 10 upwards. One day I went to a public library to find information for my assignment. Most of the books that I saw in that library were not even a bit related to our curriculum, OBE-FET. Even the librarian was so moody and didn’t want to help me with my work, so I went back home without the information. That meant a risk of failing to me. Last month when we were signing petitions in public libraries for this walk I met with the librarian in that library and she told me that the library in my school is really not functioning and she supports the campaign because my schoolmates are those who make her library over-crowded. What do I find in a library? Firstly, I find information, knowledge and happiness. Together these give me the excellent education that I deserve. The education that my parents and grandparents fought for but didn’t get. So I must get it because they never got it. It’s what I’m hungry and thirsty for. ~*~ Phathiswa Shuswana is a grade 9 learner at Luhlaza High School and a members of the Equal Education leadership committee. This speech was written for the Walk for School Libraries, Sept 22 2009.
Monday, 09 November 2009 11:36
Equal Education (EE) welcomes Minister Motshekga’s statement on death of OBEEE welcomes the changes announced by Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga in regard to the curriculum and its implementation, and we agree with her that these signal the beginning of the end of Outcomes Based Education (OBE) as reflected in the original Curriculum 2005 and the current National Curriculum Statement (NCS). In her statement to the National Assembly on November 5, 2009, the Minister stated: “The question on everyone's lips is why we do not, as Mamphela Ramphele always wants us to do, declare the death certificate of outcomes-based education, OBE? I must say that we have, to all intents and purposes, done so. So if anybody asks us if we are going to continue with OBE, we say that there is no longer OBE. We have completely done away with it." Equal Education endorses this step on the part of the Department of Education. This follows a contribution made by EE to the Department of Education’s National Curriculum Statement (NCS review panel in response to a call for Public Comment on the) made in July 2009.
Friday, 30 October 2009 15:31
Every school needs a library
by Equal Education - Admin
This article was published in The Times on Oct 27, 2009. To read the original article click here. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "There seems to be some kind of blind spot among educationists and policy makers when it comes to school libraries," said Genevieve Hart, an associate professor and head of department at the University of Western Cape. She was invited to take part in a 6km march by thousands of children from schools around Cape Town to campaign for school libraries. The campaign was planned by Equal Education, a non-government organisation that advocates quality and equality in education. EE's belief is that education in South African schools remains unequal, 15 years after the end of apartheid. According to the NGO's research, most pupils in township schools don't have access to a library. The few libraries available are understaffed and many don't have qualified librarians The march set off from Salt River High School last month and ended at the City Hall. It was dominated by children from Khayelitsha, a working-class community in Cape Town with 54 schools but fewer than five libraries. The children were accompanied by EE organisers, parents and well-known local authors. One of the authors, Sindiwe Magona, was driven to participate, and to speak after the march, by the plight of the pupils. "This is a national shame that you should be demanding libraries while it has to be automatic. Every school deserves a library. "You are marching because you cannot afford to have a school without a library. Education is your basic right; reading is not only the key to your future, it is the key to your life," she said Hart was invited to the march because of her extensive work on school libraries for the library transformation charter - a project of the National Council of Library and Information Services. The charter recommends that school libraries should be prioritised if we are serious about improving schooling and producing school leavers ready to take their place in the modern world's information-based economy. Hart said: "I have great respect for Equal Education because they have done their homework - reading up on the issues, running workshops for learners, consulting widely. "The resource-thirsty curriculum, the general lack of access to books, computers and information in learners' homes, our shockingly low reading skills - all point to the need for school libraries. "Only a tiny minority of schools has a library, which is almost always funded from governing-body fees. "In most South African schools. the so-called library is a depressing storeroom of textbooks and outdated books, which is, in any case, locked up for much of the day as there is no staff member to manage it." Nokubonga Ralayo, a Grade 11 pupil at Chris Hani School, in Khayelitsha, added: "EE has taught me the value of standing up for my rights and for what I believe in. "I have learned that I have to have knowledge of what I need and of how to use non-violence in achieving my goals. "I feel that we can bring positive change in education through such campaigns. "I can stand up anywhere and talk about what we need as pupils, and take responsibility for our education and be responsible citizens. "I fully support the demands that Equal Education is making. "Building libraries will be building the foundation of quality education. "The only way of achieving equal education is through reading to access information. "So, I had to stand up - we can't wait for change, we can only stand up for our rights."
Tuesday, 27 October 2009 14:19
EE Statement on SADTU JHB Central Region holding meetings during school timeEqual Education Statement on SADTU Johannesburg Central Region holding meetings during school time In return, teachers should act professionally and never forget their constitutional obligation to provide quality education to the children of this country. Communities, parents, and learners expect teachers to deliver quality teaching and arrive at school on time and teach all the time.
Monday, 19 October 2009 22:34
New cause: one school, one library, one librarian
by Equal Education - Admin
SUE BLAINE - Published in the Weekender in Edition 17/10/09 SCHOOL libraries are something veteran campaigner Zachie Achmat “feels passionate about”. That should send chills up the spines of anyone who thinks that the South African government should not provide SA’s approximately 26700 public schools with a well-stocked library and a dedicated librarian. Equal Education, a lobby group with Achmat on its board, is working towards this goal. Achmat is well known for his sterling work in the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) to ensure all HIV-positive South Africans have the access to care that the constitution promises them. While Achmat says he is “just” on Equal Education’s board, and “doing petition collection and Facebook stuff”, the fact that his considerable campaign experience is freely available to the group is a boon. “Equal Education is about the dignity of every child. You need to read properly to have proper access to knowledge.This is an opportunity to develop children’s talents equally by providing libraries to all public schools,” Achmat says. The Department of Basic Education’s research shows only 7% of SA’s public schools have functional libraries, says Equal Education co-ordinator Doron Isaacs. It’s early days — the library campaign launched in August — but Equal Education, which was formed last year, has successfully campaigned in another area: reducing the numbers of children coming late to school in its home base of Khayelitsha, on the Cape Flats. “Our members, school pupils themselves, stood outside school and handed out fliers,” says Doron Isaacs, Equal Education’s co-ordinator. “There was a huge drop in late-coming. At Esangweni High School, on the first day of the campaign, 120 kids who were late were locked out. By the end of the two-and-a-half months of the campaign, none were late. “At Harry Gwala School, on the first day of the campaign 600 kids were late and locked out, by the end (of the campaign) the consistent late-coming figure was less than 10.” While Isaacs says it would not be accurate to portray Equal Education as “made up of former TAC members — some of us were in TAC, but not centrally involved”, the group has learned good strategy lessons from the organisation. These include organising “on the ground” in poor and working-class communities, which are the primary source of the group’s membership and leadership, but not ignoring middle-class communities. The group will also learn from the TAC about framing “struggles” as being about the realisation of legal entitlements that already exist in the constitution. Equal Education would like to take its school library campaign national, but it is well aware that to do so requires a well-oiled organisation and sufficient funding. “SA is a young democratic country. We looked at the TAC and how they used the constitution as a basis for their arguments, and how to give information to ordinary people,” says Isaacs. "We saw that when you give information to ordinary people about the facts and their rights, it is tremendously motivating. It galvanises action.” Equal Education used public meetings, workshops and seminars to build up support and devise a campaign strategy. The organisation is spreading news of its campaign through the media, a petition signed by more than 20000 people, letters to Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga and Western Cape Education MEC Donald Grant, and marches. It’s working. People are beginning to take notice of their simple but powerful message. The argument for functional school libraries is well worn, says Prof Genevieve Hart, a senior lecturer in the University of the Western Cape’s department of library and information science. “People like me, groups like Liasa (the Library and Information Association of SA), that claim to represent school libraries have failed,” she says. “There is research that shows that if you spend money on a school library, it can iron out social disadvantage. We’ve been bleating about it for years. Perhaps what Equal Education is showing is the way to go about doing this.” Equal Education wants the government to draw the final line on a National School Libraries Policy — there have been five drafts of this drawn up since 1994, but none of them has been finalised or implemented. The Schools Act, which governs education in SA, makes no mention of libraries. Under apartheid, most schools serving white communities had functional libraries, but very few schools in other communities had them. Since 1994, many of the schools in former nonwhite areas which had libraries have lost them because of a lack of funding. The South African school library survey conducted by the Human Sciences Research Council in 1999 found 32% of schools nationwide had an “onsite library”, but most were shut because full-time teachers were expected to be librarians too. The high point of the campaign so far has been Equal Education’s march in Cape Town last month to highlight its school library campaign. The march followed the same route taken by Cape school pupils in September 1976 in solidarity with their Soweto peers who had begun a protest against the forceful introduction of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction, says Isaacs. “We did it to revive history. At the City Hall we screened a movie that we’d prepared on September 1976,” he says. “The symbolism is: young people, this time from different backgrounds — from the Cape Flats and from Rondebosch — saying it’s unfair that some have a 60-strong class, no library, a teacher who doesn’t know the work and doesn’t turn up on time, and others don’t have these problems. “Now is the time for everyone to have a quality and an equal education. The demand is the same as in ’76.” Hart says Equal Education’s campaign reminds her of the protests of the 1980s. “There’s a fervour there, and in the ’80s the protest organisers were also read up and informed … They are quite strategic. They have really done their homework. “One school, one library, one librarian, is not just a slogan.”
Wednesday, 07 October 2009 14:01
Open Letter to WCED on School LibrariesOne month ago Equal Education [EE] wrote to the Western Cape Education Department's [WCED] Acting Head Brian Schreuder. This was in response to the WCED's announcement that it was implementing one of the five key demands of the EE Campaign for School Libraries. In our letter we noted the move by the WCED was in line with the requirement ofSection 195 of the Constitution that public administration be “accountable”. However, Brian Schreuder has failed to respond, or contact EE. In our letter we said: " Please note that in the interests of public access to information, transparency and accountability to our members we reserve the right to make this letter public." Due to Mr Schreuder's failure to respond we now make our original letter public. Read the full letter by clicking "read more", or download the attachment.
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Wednesday, 07 October 2009 12:00
EE Profiled in Botswana
by Equal Education - Admin
"What Do Students Demonstrate For?" This is the question posed by an online article in Botswana. The article looks at Equal Education and compares it to student efforts in Botswana. Read the full article by clicking here.
Tuesday, 29 September 2009 05:03
Need for citizens’ movement to save our crumbling education system
by Farouk
In the past week two events occurred which tell us that we are at a critical juncture in our post-apartheid history. No, it was not Cape Judge-President John Hlophe’s failed bid to become a Constitutional Court judge nor was it rumours of another succession battle brewing in the Tripartite Alliance. The first was Graeme Bloch’s pronouncement that Outcomes Based Education was inappropriate for reconstructing our broken education system. This admission by a state education specialist (he is at the Development Bank of Southern Africa) is significant not so much because the outcomes-based approach is entirely useless, but because in our context all energies and efforts should have been focused on rebuilding basic literacy competencies lost in the abyss that was Bantu Education. We did not. The second event was far more seismic. On September 22, 3000 learners marched in Cape Town demanding libraries for their schools. Only 7% of South African schools have a library or one that is adequately furnished with books and staffed. This fact may shock those who enjoy many hours in libraries, but it is the lived reality of the majority of our learners who struggle to gain access to books for pleasure and research. The march was led by Equal Education, a grassroots movement of learners, parents and community activists aimed at realising the right to quality education for all in this country.
Friday, 25 September 2009 10:34
South Africa Children Push for Better Schools
by Doron
Report on Equal Education's work in the New York Times, by Celia W Dugger. Click here to read. ---------------------------------------------- CAPE TOWN, South Africa — Thousands of children marched to City Hall this week in sensible black shoes, a stream of boys and girls from township schools across this seaside city that extended for blocks, passing in a blur of pleated skirts, blazers and rep ties. Their polite demand: Give us libraries and librarians. “We want more information and knowledge,” said a ninth grader, Abongile Ndesi. In the 15 years since white supremacist rule ended in South Africa, the governing party, the African National Congress, has put in place numerous policies to transform schools into engines of opportunity. But many of its leaders, including President Jacob Zuma, now acknowledge that those efforts have too often failed. The new protest movement, with its practical goals, youthful organizers and idealistic moniker, Equal Education, is a quintessentially South African answer to a failing education system, one that self-consciously acknowledged its debt to the past in the march to City Hall. To read the full article, click here.
Monday, 21 September 2009 13:59
Response to WCED Announcement on Libraries4 Sept 2009 PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION This announcement is clearly in response to EE’s Campaign for School Libraries. It is a victory for community and youth activism. It shows what progressive organising, research and policy work can achieve. But it is only the beginning.
Friday, 28 August 2009 16:55
Don’t cap or scrap fees. Use them to fix inequality.
by Doron
The ANC resolution at Polokwane calls for “free education for the poor until undergraduate level”. Different interpretations of “free education” are butting heads in a national debate on school fees. ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe says, “If you say education is free then it must be free everywhere.” Although not mentioned in the ANC’s new “Education Roadmap”, the ruling party has circulated a discussion document proposing the capping of fees. However, given economic inequality, fees should be maintained for those who can afford them, and free quality education provided for those who can’t. What motivates the cap or scrap proposals? The first reason is that even the smallest fees can be a barrier to access. This was the case in various African countries, until the introduction of across-the-board free schooling dramatically increased enrollment. The second reason is that even if the poor can afford low fees, they can’t pay the exorbitant fees – sometimes over R20,000 – charged in former model-C public schools. The third reason is that these high fees pump huge additional resources into some schools, but not others, creating a terrible inequality between “public” education in rural and township schools and “public” education in leafy suburbs. How real are these concerns? Basic access isn’t a major concern. South Africa already has 97% primary enrollment. Our crisis is a crisis of quality. So we need to be asking ourselves two questions: How do we get more poor kids into high-performing schools? One answer is to make the fee-exemption policy work. And, for the majority of kids who will remain in township and rural schools, how can we close the resource and achievement gaps with the rich schools? According to the Western Cape government’s 2005 numeracy testing of every grade 6 child in the province, 64,5% of those in former model C schools were numerate, whereas the figure for former DET (black) schools was 0,2%. Taking resources out of the system by capping nor scrapping will not get us anywhere. A lack of resources – human and financial – plagues poor schools. Whilst curriculum, governance, learner attitude, community involvement and teacher-training are massive issues, we can’t ignore resource inequalities. Forty percent of schools – soon to be 60% – are no fee-school and therefore not permitted to charge any fees, whereas many fee-charging public schools generate more through fees than through government funding. This disparity is supposedly compensated for by government’s funding model, in which, according to Prega Govender, “schools are funded by the government, on a sliding scale, depending on how wealthy or poor the area is in which they are situated.” This is widely reported, but misleading. Only so-called “norms and standards funding” for non-capital, non-personnel expenditure is pro-poor, with the poorest public schools getting six times more than the richest, but such funding accounts for only 9% of government funding to schools. The vast majority of funding – teacher salaries – is not allocated on a pro-poor basis. In fact, due to safer conditions and smaller classes, the experienced and more qualified teachers are to be found in former model-C schools where they are better paid. When funding to schools is aggregated, according to the Western Cape Government’s own performance assessment, government spends the same on its poorest learners as it does on its richest. There is little actual redistribution in the education system. Schools able and entitled to collect fees therefore end up in a much better position. Given this fee-generated inequality, why are proposals for scrapping or capping misconceived? Such policies would reduce inequality by lowering the top end, rather than uplifting the bottom end. This is not the vision of equality and human dignity in our Constitution. It would also drive some middle-class families into private schools, leaving the public school system, like the public health system, to the impoverished masses, and likely subject to even worse official neglect. How to avoid these problems and address inequality in the process? Equal Education suggests five measures:
The combination of well-funded no-fee schools and a working fee-exemption system would create the potential of “free quality education” for all who need it. This approach uses fees positively: they become a national educational investment by better-off parents, for the benefit of their children, but also for all. Winning support for such an approach must be part of a national effort to conscientise middle-class people about the intolerable conditions in township and rural schools; the classes of 60 children, the broken toilets, the lack of text books, the absence of libraries, and the rusted and broken soccer, rugby and netball posts. It won’t be cheap to fix this country, but inequality and ignorance are ultimately far more expensive problems. ~*~ Doron Isaacs is Coordinator of Equal Education.
Friday, 28 August 2009 16:08
Walk for Libraries 22 Sept 2009HECTOR PIETERSEN THEN AND NOW --- WALK WITH US ON 22 SEPT 2009 On 20th August 2009 Equal Education with the Community of Kraaifontein held an event which was attended by over 600 people. This was part of Equal Education’s Campaign for School Libraries. As we were reminded, only 7% of South Africa’s schools have functional libraries – this according to government statistics. Libraries are mainly in schools that can afford to employ specialist librarians through their own funds. In schools with no or low fees, the few librarians that there are, manage this on top of their full teaching load. Since 1994 there have been 5 draft national school library policies. In this campaign we are demanding a finalised policy and concrete action. Without access to books it is little wonder that the country’s literacy levels are so low. On 16 June 1976 the youth of Soweto marched for equality and freedom, and it shook the country. On that day the first children to lose their lives were Hastings Ndlovu and Hector Pietersen. On 20 August, students from Hector Pieterson High School marched for 4km through Kraaifontein. They were joined by students, black and coloured, from schools including Wallacedene, Scottsdene, Bloekombos, Masibambane, and Bernadino Heights. Their parents walked with them, and stayed right until the end of the proceedings. Some insisted on standing, refusing the special treatment they were offered. Equal Education parent and learner members and volunteers worked tirelessly to ensure that this event was success. At the conclusion Andiswa Mrwetyana, a grade 12 student from Esangweni High School in Khayelitsha, gave one of the best speeches of the day. She reminded everyone of the heroes of 1976. The symbolism of Hector Pietersen then and now was poignant. It was emphasised by Equal Education leader Lwandiso Stofile who went on to remind the crowd to be disciplined, peaceful, respectful and attentive. Sam Nzima’s photograph immortalised Hector Pietersen and the youth of Soweto. Less well-known are the 1976 and 1977 youth of the Cape. On 2 September 1976 a significant event in the struggle against Apartheid took place. Students at Salt River High School, Salt River Secondary and other Coloured schools marched out of their school grounds into the heart of Cape Town. The events were instigated by a feisty 15-year old named Miriam Gafoor. As Miriam tells it, a portrait of Prime Minister BJ Vorster was hung above the bed she was then sleeping in. This was to remind her each morning of what the struggle was about. One morning it fell crashing onto her head, and she decided that that was the day. At school she informed her teacher, Yousuf Gabru, that this was it. Students were rallied, motivated, inspired and bullied into joining the marchers. A 14-year old Zackie Achmat – Equal Education board member – marched on that day too. Hearing of the news that ‘Miriam had done it’ African students from Fezeka High School in Gugulethu jumped on trains to join the march. One of them was Jeff Mamphuta who later became Miriam’s husband. The police were violent and brutal, beating many and arresting 10, but no lives were lost, although students in the Cape were shot and killed on other occasions. On that day the Cape youth identified themselves with the black masses and the struggle kicked into a higher gear. On 22 Sept 2009 the youth of Cape Town will, 33 years later, walk the same route. (The date was originally set for 2 Sept, but postponed because of the impending taxi strike.) This is the Equal Education Walk for School Libraries. There will be no violence and no dogs and the police will help to clear the traffic for the march. Under Section 17 of our Constitution “Everyone has the right, peacefully and unarmed, to assemble, to demonstrate, to picket and to present petitions”. There will still be singing. The spirit of the 2 Sept 1976, the spirit of non-racialism, solidarity and youth, will be recaptured by the diverse group that will walk in harmony together. Students from Salt River, Chris Hani, Matthew Goniwe, Harry Gwala, South Peninsula, Westerford, Oaklands, Herzlia and Hector Pietersen, to name but a few, will walk hand in hand. Along the route we will pause to read extracts from South African authors. Some of those will be walking with us. As Andiswa said last night, this is not just a campaign for libraries, but for a culture of reading, a thirst for knowledge, a personal commitment to use every opportunity to learn, and that is what we will do. South African author Thembelani Ngenelwam, who wrote “The Day I Died”, spoke to us at Bloekombos Community Hall tonight. He said: “Great readers make great thinkers. And great thinkers make great doers.” Nadine Gordimer, Dr. Sindiwe Magona, Gcina Mhlophe too have declared their full support. Every learner, parent, teacher and citizen of Cape Town is invited to attend. Meet at 3:30pm on 2 Sept 2009 at Salt River High School. If you end work late, meet us at 5pm at City Hall. Join Archbishop Thabo Makgoba and the united youth of Equal Education in driving home the message of the campaign: 1 school 1 library 1 librarian.
*(Originally set for 2 Sept, but postponed because of the impending taxi strike.)* Equal Education _________ .
Friday, 28 August 2009 13:41
EE Walk for School Libraries in Khayelitsha
by Doron
Eye Witness News covered the EE Walk for School Libraries in Khayelitsha on 27 August 2009. For more click here.
Thursday, 16 July 2009 07:29
March for education: Be on time all the time
by Equal Education Team
On Tuesday 12 May 2009, about 1,000 people gathered in Khayelitsha to march for education. The messages of the march were the importance of being on time and the need for partnerships for quality and equality in education. |
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