Although the matric class of 2010 achieved a national pass rate of 67,8%, questions around the quality of the exams have been raised. In local and international literacy and numeracy tests South African pupils perform poorly.
As a country we spend 14% of our national budget on education but we aren’t seeing “bangs for bucks” results.
The department of basic education’s director general, Bobby Soobrayan, was reported in The Star (October 25 2010) as saying: “Trying to improve educational quality is not new in South Africa. It has been on the policy agenda since 1994. That our gains since then in terms of learning outcomes have been as meagre as they have been, despite increase in expenditure and ambitious interventions, is a sobering fact that we cannot afford to ignore.”
Soobrayan referred to the “Triple T” of the Quality Learning and Teaching Campaign, which was started in 2008. The three Ts are teachers, textbooks and time.
I would like to focus on the first T — the teacher. If the teacher is of quality calibre, that person learns to cope with minimal textbooks and is willing to put in the extra time needed to help pupils excel. Such a teacher is also on time for lessons.
In the past few years, I’ve visited schools across South Africa. It’s amazing what some schools have been able to do with so little. There have been schools in which more than 40 children have been crammed into tiny classrooms in communities with very high unemployment rates. Some of these non-fee-paying schools have achieved excellent results.
Physical resources, such as halls, libraries and spacious classrooms, don’t determine the quality of education provided. A well-resourced school, for example, might be a fearful place because of all the bullying, including rampant racism. So, what determines education quality? It’s the quality of the human resources — at every level in the system — that is the critical factor.
When the word “teacher” is used, a common misunderstanding is made. The word is narrowly defined as the person who teaches in a classroom. Actually, the word “teacher” can be used to describe anyone who teaches someone else. Therefore, in a school, those who teach the teacher (often a member of the senior management team) are also teachers. Who teaches the senior management of the school? They are guided or taught by officials in the local district office, who are also teachers.
Teachers — at all levels — should display core values such as accountability, competence, diligence, honesty, integrity, respect and responsibility. There are thousands of such people in our system. Sadly though, we also have those who trash the image of education by their unprofessional behaviour.
Recent examples of such include:
- Teachers abusing learners;
- Principals not taking decisive action to curb bullying and teenage drinking;
- Selling of examination papers by provincial education department officials;
- Teacher union officials manipulating the appointment of staff on the basis of membership of a particular union; and
- Misappropriation of provincial funding for education.
Toughening up the selection process for anyone wanting to enter education would improve the system. It’s too easy to join the profession. Once a person is in, it’s difficult to get him or her out.
A sensitive area in the selection of staff is employment equity legislation. It’s ethically correct that the pre-1994 racial inequalities are redressed. One principle of equity legislation is that those selected have — even if they don’t at the time of appointment — the potential to meet the job requirements.
What’s to be done when the incumbent cannot do the task 10 years after appointment? When a person is un-able to perform and stays in the job, quality levels slip. Courageous and decisive decisions need to be taken to stop professional incompetence.
All appointments at any level in the education system need to be based on ethical criteria. Academic and professional requirements for the post need to be met.
There are instances when these sorts of factors have unfairly tilted appointments in favour of certain candidates:
- Racism (quite apart from meeting employment equity requirements);
- Gender discrimination (quite apart from employment equity requirements);
- Membership of a particular teacher union;
- Religious beliefs;
- Jobs for family and friends; and
- Cadre deployments.
The first step in getting quality teachers into the profession starts at initial selection. Schools of education staff scrutinise applicants’ matric results and hold interviews. Character references are received from the schools.
Once accepted for training, the student teacher needs to be given an education that goes beyond academic knowledge and teaching methodology. If there were courses or modules on ethics and values-based education, the student would be better prepared for a quality-focused education system.
Promotion post appointments need rigorous scrutiny. Imagine a vacancy in the district office of an education department. There are 50 applicants. An initial written evaluation of the applicants’ CVs could reduce the number to between five and 10 short-listed names. Interviews are then held with the short-listed candidates. An outside agency, such as an industrial psychology practice, should then do assessment tests with the finalists.
Eulalia Snyman (The Star, October 14 2010) mentioned three areas that assessment tests should examine: Ability assessments: The focus is on a person’s ability to learn. Examples of such tests are:
- Verbal reasoning tests (how well the person measures in verbal logic);
- Numerical reasoning tests;
- Diagrammatic reasoning tests (measures logical or symbolic reasoning);
- Cognitive tests (methods of problem-solving); and
- Advanced managerial tests.
Personality assessments: These assessments aim to describe the unique identity of a person through looking at his or her:
- Relationship with others;
- Communication styles;
- Attitude towards change;
- Creativity; and
- Leadership style.
Computer assessments: The assessment would look at the ability to do a range of activities based on the level of skills needed.
Getting an outside agency to do assessments might, in the short term, be costly. Yet there are huge long-term advantages. The assessments would be based on unbiased evaluation tests. Candidates who are totally unsuitable for the job are weeded out at the onset.
Millions of rands could be saved in the long term by employing people who display a level of efficiency and effectiveness at the outset. Learning and teaching becomes that much more enjoyable and meaningful for everyone.
The critical factor that makes quality education happen is the teacher at every level of the system. Put the right teacher in the right seat on the right bus. The education bus can then travel on a successful journey towards the destination of quality education.
Richard Hayward is a former principal of two Gauteng state schools. He conducts leadership and management programmes under the aegis of the South African Quality Institute. This is an adapted version of his address at a recent institute conference