THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY OF SOUTH AFRICA'S EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

The dichotomy in South Africa's educational landscape was again glaringly evident following the Independent Examinations Board 2015 matriculation results. Independent high schools seized the opportunity to engage in self-congratulatory marketing for outstanding student achievement. By way of example, Reddam House, and Somerset College prominently placed ads and images of its student achievers in the Cape Times. Student achievement at these schools is commendable. What is, however, deeply troubling is that of a total of 33 students depicted, only one student, Otua Sobukwe-Whyte, from Reddam House, is black. She received a bursary from the school, and is one of its outstanding academic achievers. It would have been impossible for Otua Sobukwe-Whyte to attend Reddam House without a bursary. And therein lies the rub - without it she would, like millions of other young people, be captive to an appallingly inferior and wretched state generated basic public education system. The spaghetti western, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly describes the current state of basic education in South Africa: The Good - IEB matriculation results. The Bad - soon to be released general matriculation results, and The Ugly - bureaucrats and under-performing teachers who are more interested in their pay cheques than the educational wellbeing of millions of students. Our young people are well on the road to becoming a nation of illiterates where despair and hopelessness will be the rule rather than the exception.