Following on a theme that has been percolating for a while- that the main drivers of humans are pretty basic, namely fear and greed-, I turned my thoughts to how to apply this to our  current crisis in education. For most South Africans, the fear of not having a job is fairly low. We live in a welfare state, where one can gain access to grants fairly easily. Most young people will never get a job, have never had a job and are unfortunately not employable. This has to change!! Education is the key. So how do we convince the powers that currently govern that change is in their own interest? Well, threatening to take  away their privileges has been tried and does not work. If caught being corrupt, the ruling party actually rewards you (a quick google on the Travelgate saga will enlighten you). Burning down the house is an option, but as we have seen, minorities (Somalis, Chinese, Whites) are the targets and not the tenderpreneurs! So the only option is one that is being increasingly pursued by NGO's. Take the Government to court. Only then does one get any action! (textbookgate!)
The other issue that we need to address is that of a lot of young people do not dream of a better future. Without this desire, there are no drivers to better oneself and pursue educational solutions. The unfortunate examples of barely literate leadership underlines the futility of putting in the hard yards to get an education, as the much easier route is to go the political route.
So, punish the bad, and get young people to dream! Simple to say, difficult to implement.