Phillipa Garson
CLASS STRUGGLE
It is refreshing to be confronted with a whirlwind of action in the form of Minister of Education Kader Asmal. His civil servants, who have grown used to grabbing on to their hats every time he blasts past, affectionately refer to him as “Papa Action” nowadays – no allusion to his thuggish namesake in Yizo Yizo, of course.
The affection has crept in, it seems, because Asmal has at last stopped treating them like “idiots”, as one official put it, and started sensing they have some real skills – skills he will need if the nine priority areas he’s identified for getting education back on track are to translate into more than an impressive-sounding list. They also love the way he devours every report they write, ever hungry for information he can translate into speedy action.
And action is of course what we all want – though I can’t help agreeing with the University of the Witwatersrand’s Education Policy Unit (EPU), which has brought out an insightful analysis of Asmal’s priorities in its latest Quarterly Review, that it is a terrible oversight to have left off the crucial area of early childhood development from his “must do” list.
While former minister of education Sibusiso Bengu received some tactful praise for overseeing a difficult period of policy and legislation development, this was largely drowned out by the escalating hum of frustration at his hands-off, “it’s not my problem” approach to every new crisis which drifted his way. Now, these same detractors are dizzily trying to make sense of the state of affairs in education, if only the dust in the wake of Papa Action’s tumultuous trail would settle.
-Certainly, the man is everywhere: opening schools, launching events, shaking hands, delivering speeches, and grabbing headlines as he whips around the country like a lightning bolt. At each event he wins more fans with the intelligent and sincere observations he delivers with a charmingly human irreverence. His no-nonsense approach towards non-performing teachers and principals, his intention to fight the onslaught of rape and violence in schools, his more critical appraisal of Curriculum 2005 and outcomes-based education are falling on receptive ears, including those of the media, who are always hungry for a whip-cracking story.
But perhaps the time has come to throw a word of caution amid the deafening applause. Although credited with “smart policies and legislation” in the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, Asmal’s hurried delivery-now, sustainability-later approach has left many question marks hanging over the future of water supplies for the three million rural people who initially benefited from his projects. The fact is that although these projects were designed to be sustained by communities themselves, they are still largely being subsidised by disgruntled provincial governments now threatening to withdraw their funds. It is also clear that many – although no one knows just how many – of the millions are no longer receiving water. Some attribute the problems partly to the transfer of too slick technology into the fold of those who simply lack the skills or money to sustain it, and point to Asmal’s “romanticisation” of rural communities’ administrative abilities.
-Few could claim that Asmal doesn’t know the terrain he now paces around on – after all, he has been both teacher and academic for years. And assessment of his delivery will be far more difficult to measure than the relatively simple with-or-without-water yardstick for his previous portfolio.
-But, as the EPU hints in its analysis of his proposed campaigns, including that to eradicate illiteracy, the education context is complex and the problems multi-faceted, and there are no quick-fix solutions to solving illiteracy or to getting teachers to perform, for example. It is all very well to wield the stick at principals and teachers who shirk their responsibilities, as long as due note is taken of their own inadequate education and the appalling conditions under which they work, and that the plans to combat this are as big as those to purge the system of the parasites who feed off it.
-Obviously Asmal knows all this. As does his new right-hand man, Director General Thami Mseleku, who boasts a long history in the struggle, superb people skills, and cred with the ever more muscle-bound South African Democratic Teachers’ Union, which makes his appointment all the more strategic in light of the tough-talking stance of his boss.
-As much as Asmal is a master at extracting the best from his officials (which of course includes his spin doctors) he is also a master at grasping the big picture. One hopes, however, that in his haste to whip some magic out of his hat, he does not neglect the long-term health of the white rabbit: hopefully it will enjoy a life of prosperity long after the applause for its master’s superb performance has died down.
ENDS