The Gauteng MEC for Education is shaking things up with his hands-on approach
BASED in an office 10 floors above the streets of downtown Johannesburg, Gauteng MEC for Education Ignatius Jacobs is a leader who keeps his ear to the ground.
Jacobs, who believes in the ”rare skill” of listening, continually emphasises the value he puts on the views of the people he serves: ”We can’t be complacent with the political legitimacy of this government. We’ve got to listen to and work with the people. Our people are not ignorant. They have struggled and suffered. If they can see changes every year, then we will win their confidence — that’s what they’re looking for.”
His African National Congress ”struggle” background is clearly significant — in fact, it was his successful involvement in community structures, mobilising and organising against apartheid, that built his reputation as a competent leader. His credibility was also established through occupying positions such as that of national treasurer for the ANC Youth League until the 1994 elections. Prior to his current position (which he was appointed to in July last year), Jacobs was the Gauteng MEC for welfare and population development.
Tangible change is the crux of Jacobs’s vision. His innovations include establishing Education Action Zones, which are areas with a high number of underperforming and disadvantaged schools needing additional attention from the education authorities to get their acts together. Some of the attention involves Jacobs himself visiting incidents of chaos where schooling should be — like his recent intervention in Thembisa, where he was horrified to find learners drunk and having ”a bash” in a shebeen instead of attending a school sports function.
Jacobs is also intent on ”finding creative and innovative ways to involve the community” in the life of their local schools. As a father of three himself — two girls and a boy — Jacobs knows from first-hand experience that being issued with a letter for yet another school meeting can keep even him at home. His plan is to get parents involved through holding cultural and sporting events at schools, which he believes are strong draw cards for willing and meaningful community participation. Jacobs is clearly sold on the kinds of changes outcomes-based education is bringing to schooling. He speaks with enthusiasm about the homework his eight-year-old daughter Kaylene brings home (from her government school): assignments like projects that draw on her own interests (like popular music bands), which are approaches to learning that Jacobs says he was only exposed to at university.
At the same time, Jacobs welcomes the current review of the implementation of Curriculum 2005, saying, ”It will keep us on our toes. It will tell us where the weaknesses are so we can close them, and it will tell us where the strengths are so we can build on those strengths.”
Ultimately, Jacobs’s belief in the potential of Gauteng’s education system lies in the faith he has in its people: ”People in Gauteng have decided they’re not going to be ‘I can’t do’ but ‘I can do’ residents. There’s so much talent and skill I don’t see how we can fail. We need to make sure we remain focused, make our targets, and sustain them over time.”
— The Teacher/Mail & Guardian, March 1, 2000.
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