As Kader Asmal sidles off to quieter pastures, all in education must be wondering what to expect from Naledi Pandor, the new Minister of Education.
Her track record, both as an educationist and a politician working in the structures of the government, certainly inspires confidence. She would seem to have the necessary experience and ability to lead the education system away from the chasm it now faces — one created by the persistent gaps between policies on paper and what changes and improvements are actually implemented on the ground.
The key words, of course, are implementation and delivery. And as President Thabo Mbeki — and everybody else — is saying, now is the time to get to work and make governance mean delivery.
My fondest hope is that Pandor will ruthlessly orient her plan of action around the most pressing education issues, and not allow political dynamics to dominate her focus.
I say this because of the flawed actions that have been taken in the past that have been motivated by a logic belonging to politics, not education. Decisions that have radically altered the education landscape have been rushed through because of political pressures — without the resources and capacity to make them work.
Think of the teacher rationalisation process, started in the
late 1990s, which led to a haemorrhaging of educators and left us where we now are, facing a teacher shortage. Think of the incomprehensible jargon that
littered the original version of C2005, but which was distributed in its mumbo-jumbo format anyway despite all warnings that it would hinder, not help, educators. Think of the other twists and turns on which political heads have decided, leaving our education system chasing its tail while the real business of teaching and learning just got harder.
Then there is the equally serious inaction that political considerations have caused. Where is the genuine training and professional support to help teachers successfully implement the revised C2005? Where is the rollout of our fabulous (on paper) language in education policy? What of ‘breaking the back of illiteracy”, as Asmal so dramatically put it; and what of early childhood development, which is so thoroughly on the backburner that it is ice-cold from neglect?
It seems a shame to be so negative when we have a new political head in the education hot seat. But it seems I’m a little jaded, disillusioned that ‘delivery” in education has been more on the level of rhetoric than finding working solutions to crucial issues.
Pandor, her new deputy minister, Enver Surty, and the new and returning provincial education ministers will need some time to take stock of the system they will be leading. The way forward must be thoroughly deliberated and a detailed, comprehensive plan mapped out. But once the thinking work has been done, the new leaders need to execute their plan for delivery with urgency.