Bringing a busy bee ethic to education

Edwin Naidu spoke to Minister of Education Kader Asmal, about how his plans have been shaping up

It is not difficult to notice why Kader Asmal was nicknamed ‘The Bee” during his schooldays. He swarms around, buzzing with enthusiasm, moving swiftly from one idea to the next, sometimes not completing his train of thought.

In an interview with The Teacher, the minister kicked off with a criticism of the questions, submitted in advance at his request, saying they were negative.

‘The implication is that nothing has happened,” he said of the questions, which ranged from the launch of his priorities (Tirisano), the Masifunde Sonke campaign, matriculation results and the incorporation of colleges into the tertiary system.

He also pointed out that the questions ignored policy developments but conceded it was the newspaper’s prerogative.

The omission of policy issues, I pointed out, was deliberate since implementation of education policies are ongoing and it would be unfair to assess or judge how they have shaped up.

The former minister of water and forestry showed he is no bumbling bee at Sol Plaatje House in Schoeman Street, Pretoria.

He spent most of his initial period in office soon after his appointment in June 1999 meeting scores of individuals involved in education before coming up with his own set of goals, cleverly culled in essence from the ones presented by his predecessor, Sibusiso Bengu.

However, Asmal beefed up Bengu’s 1999 dour dossier on his department’s priorities, and gave it a unique stamp which made it his own.

He whittled the long list down to nine key priorities, before explaining how each one would be addressed. ‘An enormous amount has been done,” he said.

The South African Schools Act set the tone for changes that to this day are continuing at schools throughout the country.

But Asmal noted that while his efforts have opened up debate on education, many schools are carrying on as if 1994 (transition to democratic rule) never took place.

‘Issues, such as equity, non-discrimination and fairness were in the Schools Act, but we are only now looking at how it has been implemented.”

Asmal said his department was taking seriously the issue of initiation at schools and expressed concern that this practice was alive at universities.

Discipline, he said, had improved considerably at schools, adding, ‘Very few schools allow pupils to loiter.”

One of the indicators of progress, which Asmal speaks proudly about, is the 2000 matriculation examination. ‘Two years ago the examination was published without being certified by the South African Certification Council. Last year, my staff worked three days over Christmas to make sure we released the results after it was certified.”

When the results were announced on December 28, all provinces showed a marked improvement. ‘The matric results were not pie-in-the shy,” he quipped.

However, apart from the extra effort by educators and pupils, the department’s decision to prevent 66 000 over-age pupils from writing may have contributed to the overall results. ‘The 66 000 were part of apartheid’s legacy, he moaned. ‘Over-age pupils have a disruptive influence on a class. You are talking of pupils with an average age of 21 in a class where most pupils are 17.”

Once the restructuring of technical colleges is completed, he expects most learners who have not completed matric to have the option of further studying at college.

This year, the country’s matriculants will write standardised papers in all subjects.

Among the department’s huge catalogue of things to do, revealed Asmal, is a rethink of the matriculation examination with an alternative model expected by 2005.

Asmal is adamant that progress has been made at school level.

He rejects the suggestion in certain quarters that the guardians of teaching — the educators of tomorrow — are handicapped by the parlous state of affairs surrounding the incorporation of teacher training colleges into the tertiary system.

‘We set out to reduce the 120-college sector. Many were like high schools and some had 10 students. Teaching was being run down in colleges.”

He said the incorporation plan, which came into operation in February, required all college lecturers to be transferred into tertiary institutions.

‘There were hitches and glitches, and the process could not occur without any, but it all went well, so the system can’t be in a mess,” he insists.

Asmal said R20-million will be allocated for the training of teachers next year. ‘I want teaching to become the first choice. It used to be the second choice, I know, because I could not go to university.”

Asmal enrolled for a teaching diploma at a Durban college of Education, which shut down as the incorporation of teacher training centres into the higher education system saw dozens of similar institutions pull the curtains on teacher training provision.

The minister, say loyal officials within the corridors of Sol Plaatje House, is always a busy bee. Some of his officials struggle to keep pace with him.

‘He wants to be on top of everything,” said one insider, who did not wish to be named.

Another said the minister was dynamic and brought about a different work ethic to the ministry.

Few would dispute that Asmal floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee.

— The Teacher/Mail & Guardian, Johannesburg, April 2001.