In my 15 years as an educator I thought I had seen it all. I witnessed the dawn of the new democracy and, more significantly, the introduction of a new curriculum with its new terminologies and concepts such as diversity, integration, inclusivity, multicultural classes and so on.
But this year I was confronted with a different scenario. There was a Venda-Âspeaking learner in my Setswana class. She started school in Venda and had no formal schooling in Setswana. She could hardly read or write in the language.
Although she came from a Tswana-speaking family, she started her schooling in TshiVenda because at the time she was Âstaying with her aunt in Venda. She had came to North West to reconnect with her biological mother.
I discovered all this only after I gave my grade eight learners a comprehension test to read and answer the questions in their activity books. When I realised the learner was struggling, I called her to my desk and asked her a few questions.
Luckily she was able to communicate verbally in Setswana, but could not read and write. Imagine what was going through my head. I was furious and frustrated – not by the learner, but by the situation.
I decided to read the passage to her and explained the questions to her word for word with the aim of letting her to answer them orally. But she told me that she was going to attempt writing them in the activity book. She asked me to forgive any grammatical errors. I agreed. I was delighted that she was willing to give it a try.
But I was still cross with the school management for admitting the learner into my class without warning me. I was cross with her parents, too, for exposing their child to such a difficult situation.
Why did they choose to let her start schooling in Venda if they had no Âintention of keeping her there? Did they realise the serious challenge she faced? Were they even aware that the school taught in Setswana?
After the class I went to see the school’s head of department for languages to get her view on the matter. She was just as surprised as I had been. She suggested that the learner be given special attention and that extra hours be devoted to helping her.
Looking back on it now, I realise how this situation occurred.
The school had recently lost four teachers because they were declared in “excess”. To avoid losing more teachers the school management did whatever it could to increase enrolment.
The emphasis was on getting more learners. Little thought went into considering the barriers and challenges learners might face or how these might impact on the teaching and learning process.
I have no idea what was behind the Âdecision taken by the learner’s parents. Had the language barrier not been discovered, the learner could have underperformed
and the school and teachers would have been blamed.
I urge parents to sit down with their children and discuss all aspects with them before taking such important decisions, the results of which will affect their future. After all they are the future.
Jesaya Molete Kgobokoe teaches at ÂRamokonyane Middle School in North West province. He was a finalist in the Âcategory of Excellence in Primary School Teaching in the 2008 National Teacher Awards