August 28, 2013
I am increasingly convinced that the education system in our fair land is not about up-skilling people. This rather depressing observation has come about due to my exposure to both learners still at school and also to those that have recently left school and are in the work environment. Some confusion obviously exists in our Marxist brothers, that the "pass one, pass them all" system will deliver the necessary skills to take our economy forward. Boy, have I got news for you guys. The application of this system, where you have never failed but are just "not yet competent", has resulted in a generation that believe that it is easy to get an academic qualification. Anyone who has sweated blood trying to obtain good marks for an exam will know that pursuing knowledge is an exclusive past time and is not one that one approaches without trepidation. Allied to this is the fact that this pursuit is not for the masses. Only a small percentage have all the factors aligned to enable them to get a tertiary education and even so,there is a high drop out rate at this level.
Currently our success rate at University is 5%. Wasted resources, misallocation of government funding and a lack of understanding as to what it takes to increase this pass rate are characteristics of the failed attempts of Government.
I do not hold out much hope that we can get the pass rate up without a major rethink and a change in the allocation of resources. Foundation skills are a good place to start. My attempts to help those in the system above Grade 10 have not been very successful.
Pre--primary and primary school interventions. Forget about lowering the matric standard any further as already the Universities have had to institute their own exams to determine the level of the student.
Posted by Charles reid.
August 5, 2012
As I have previously posted, the many changes in the syllabus for South African students has resulted in a bevy of unintended consequences. Only if you are intimately involved in the teaching and transfer of sills, can one truly appreciate the negative impact of introducing uncertainty into the marketplace. I question the consultants who have been advising the government on this aspect of education. I seriously doubt that they have any appreciation of the consequences. The panacea for the pa... Continue reading...
Posted by Charles reid.
July 1, 2012
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... Continue reading...
Posted by Charles reid.
May 16, 2012
Right. So what is the magic formula?? Well the Finns seem to have a pretty good one going for them and read some interesting studies done in India with young kids and computers. What would work in SA? Lots of stability and most important of all- a shared vision between Unions, citizens and the Government.At the moment there is too much adverserial stuff floating about. Read some interesting studies on Mauritius where they have effectively negotiated their way back from the brink. Only solut... Continue reading...
Posted by Charles reid.
May 15, 2012
Much clevererer okes than me have identified that in order to have learning take place, the learners (especially children) have to be in an environment that is stable, secure and to be taught by people who are confident in their subjects, stable and secure. Right, so how do we go about it in this beautiful land of ours? We regularly change the syllabus, textbooks and deemands on the teachers, so that a smaller percentage of the time is actually spent on teaching! Since starting my interaction... Continue reading...
Posted by Charles reid.
May 10, 2012
The above is a quote from Frank Zappa. He was referring to the USA where less money is spent on research than before and that this leads to the following: "The very big stupid is a thing that breeds by eating the future". Sound familiar? My view of our crisis of education in this country is that we are eating our own future by pandering to the Unions and neglecting the prime directive of an education system- to empower the youth so that they can create our futures for us!!! A classic case o... Continue reading...
Posted by Charles reid.
May 2, 2012
As an experienced tutor with many years experience, I can comfortably say that one of the most common objections I get is that Maths has no relevance for the learner. "I am going to study Fine Art/Lawyering/Ballet/etc etc. I am never going to use this stuff ever again and I hate it!!" Well dream on kid! My course in Atlantis bears this out. A question to the class- If I buy 6 items each valued at R19.95, give the cashier R150 and she gives me R10 back, is it a good deal? Sad to say but most ... Continue reading...
Posted by Charles reid.
April 30, 2012
Right. So now we have tried our best to make sure that everyone can pass but there is one crucial element left out- the text books. We have to make sure that there are enough errors in the calculations to completely destroy the learner confidence in the material- pretty easy to do if one changes the syllabus on a regular basis. Done! Oh, the next thing to make sure we get right is to not give the writers of the new text books enough time to truly check their work. Done!! Shoe, this is provin... Continue reading...
Posted by Charles reid.
April 21, 2012
In order to achieve a political aim, our education authorities have structured the maths syllabus in such a manner as to exclude the requirement for memorising formulas. I think this is a VERY BAD mistake. In the process of memorising anything, the student or learner has to fully engage with the subject. The different symbols have to be learned, the way they relate to one another is emphasised and a deeper understanding of the subject matter is achieved. This then translates into a better ab... Continue reading...
Posted by Charles reid.
March 29, 2012
Here's a recipe for success: Take one historically relevant subject, filled to the brim with tales of sacrifice and prejudice, with knowledge that in some cases is over 3500 years old (and still relevant), package in a dry uninteresting format, add a dash of political bullshit to further confuse the learners, and then expect half literate teachers to inspire students in classrooms with no desks, roof or electricity and what do you get- a compliant electorate! (?) I sometimes despair when I ... Continue reading...
Posted by Charles reid.
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About Me
| Charles Reid |
| Hout Bay, Cape Town |
Middle aged activist, passionate about Numeracy.
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