The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) in partnership with Shikaya, The Field Education and Mail and Guardian held a series of four conversations on education across South Africa. The last conversation was held in the Eastern Cape for the first time at Rhodes University, titled Fixing South African Schools – “What can we all do to ensure that our schools deliver the best possible education and opportunities to our children?”

The series aims to debate constructively the status of education and look at DBSA proposed education roadmap.

The DBSA roadmap focussed on the schooling system and prioritises public schooling. The roadmap brought together main stakeholders in education such as SADTU, NAPTOSA, the Minister of Education, National Department of Education, NGOs and academics to plan a way forward and find solutions to the schooling problems.

It identified four key areas, “problems in classrooms with teacher and learner discipline, education and support, support being provided to the schools, and the social problems that spilled over into education”. It also identified achievements that can be built on, challenges and feasible interventions.

Addressing a packed Rhodes University lecture theatre, Mr Graeme Bloch, Education Officer at the DBSA said the turnout is a sign of concern that the nation has about education throughout the country. He said the series of conversations revealed that citizens feel that they have to make a difference.

“South Africans are not waiting for things to happen, we are worried, we are concerned and we want to make a difference,” he added. His message was that there is nothing wrong with our children; our schools fail generation after generation and the country cannot continue as it is.

“While half of children drop out before matric, one in 10 white children gets an A aggregate in matric but only one in a 1000 black children attain the same results. 60 % of young white people go on to university but only 12 % of our black youth go on to study,” said Bloch. He said such divisions are unfair and unacceptable in a country where pupils expect education to improve their lives and get opportunities to grow and become the best that they can be.

Rhodes Vice-Chancellor, Dr Saleem Badat, said there is a powerful link between income and equity of opportunities and achievement in schooling. He said 60% of African children in South Africa are from families that earn less than R800 per month and 60% of white children are from families with income of more than R6000 per month. He said the consequences are evident in the school performance and achievement.

Badat added that South Africa continues to be one of the most unequal societies on earth in terms of wealth, income and opportunities and living conditions in the world. “Without effective interventions by government to improve the economic and social conditions of the poor and the unemployed, restricted educational opportunities and poor outcomes will be largely borne by these social groups,” he said.”We have to transform education and ensure that it contributes to individuals and social development.”

He made a call to government to make early childhood education a policy priority. He said early childhood education has a great educational and social imperatives and investing in disadvantaged young children is such a priority.

Badat highlighted a number of challenges that face the schooling system such as the culture of learning and teaching, qualified, motivated and committed teachers, high quality learning materials, language policy and accountability.?

On the culture of learning and teaching, he said the key is courageous and effective educational leadership and management on the part of National Provincial educational departments, District offices and officials especially school heads. “Effective leadership and management is the key distinguishing feature between schools that perform well and schools that perform poorly,” said Badat.

“Performance is not entirely about resources, it’s about leadership and imposing a culture of learning and teaching on students and teachers.”

There was consensus at the end of discussions that teachers’ unions, learners and citizens need to “stop the blame game and work together”. Teachers were identified as key in solving the problems ultimately.

While the education conversations series grew to a close in Grahamstown, Bloch believes that the conversation is only beginning in the country.