By Barbie Sandler
Cape Town - The leader in Tuesday’s Cape Times says it all.
The time has come for the government to put in more resources to improve the state of the foundation phase of education.
How sad we have a country with the majority of learners not able to read with meaning.
Having just been to Australia my grandchildren of 4, 6 and 8 are all reading fairly fluently. The oldest now a total bookworm reading Harry Potter and Roald Dahl.
Now I know they are reading in their home language which of course makes it easier but when I saw the system of teaching it is so superior to what we have here in South Africa.
I know we have 12 official languages and I’m not sure how many unofficial but we really have to start thinking outside the box.
It is practically impossible to teach all these kids in their home languages. We can see it is obviously not happening.
So we have to find a common language that they can be taught in, so they can eventually get jobs in the world marketplace.
Perhaps educators should find out about the Australian system?
Of course as the article also states, the majority of these kids are in the rural areas and township schools.
Is it perhaps the teaching that is poor? You are only as good as your teacher.
Perhaps excellent schools could have sessions with the teachers in the other schools to show them how they teach reading and writing?
It’s also no good relying on the parents who have a hard enough time keeping hearth and home together in this day and age, so by the time they come home after a long day at work there is no gas left in the tank to see if one’s kids are reading.
Apart from load shedding! So it has to be left to the schools and the government.
But as usual, I don’t hold my breath.
Cape Times
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