Education Is a Human Rights Issue

Respond while you have breath to prevent a catastrophe

Ruth Everson

Africa has potential – South Africa can move to self-sufficiency in a single generation. This startling claim was made by Professor O’ Connell, Vice Chancellor of the University of the Western Cape, at a Captains of Industry event held by Symphonia for Africa at St Stithians College recently. Symphonia’s purpose was clear, to shock and then to galvanise business leaders into becoming part of the solution to the education crisis in South Africa.

Professor O’ Connell, who grew up in District 6, is passionate about education: ‘Respond while you have breath to prevent a catastrophe.’ This was the challenge that he laid down to the businessmen and women at the meeting. This is the challenge that he lays at the heart of every South African. If we are to thrive as a nation, we dare not ignore his voice or the voices of others who are calling for action.

How do we do the impossible?

O’ Connell painted a vivid reminder of the challenge posed to South Africans post 1994. As the ones who voted to create this democracy, we were applauded by the world; we created a constitution assuring the rights of all, now we have to face the educational challenge together. How do we respond to the seemingly impossible task of putting things right?

The key is education. Only education will feed the dream of all having access to housing, transport, work and a society made up of functional families. Education is the foundation for whatever development will take place, not only in South Africa but in Africa as a whole. There is an expectation that this generation will solve the problems of Africa.

This is not new. Nobody would deny that education in this country is scraping the bottom of an empty barrel. As a nation, we allowed HIV/AIDS to become a pandemic. We dare not close our eyes to what is happening in front of us again. O’ Connell warns that there is so much that requires deep understanding that we are seeing but not understanding. Empires and civilizations fall – business in South Africa cannot sail on believing that the status quo will be maintained. We must acknowledge the frailty of our country and then work collaboratively to fix it.

We need a leader with courage.

O’ Connell’s message was not all doom and gloom. We need to find a leader with the political courage and will to stand up to the unions, to stand up to our disaffected youth and to call to account teachers who do not do their jobs. This leader, asserts O’Connell, will be the leader to be remembered in the history books - the one who leads us to educational triumph.

Until that leader steps forward, we must continue in a system where conditions for excellence are absent, where a culture of learning is absent and where many students at Universities have no sense of accountability. We still bear the weight of our colonial and apartheid legacies. Added to this is the legacy that the Soweto riots has bred schools where there is no respect for teachers – the power that was taken then has never been returned to those who should have the moral authority to hold it.

The ‘fantasy’ of Curriculum 2005 has left us with learners who cannot read or write well enough to hold their own in tertiary institutions. Many doctorates are being attained – but by students from Zimbabwe and other parts of Africa. South Africa produces 23 Ph Ds per 1 million, Australia at the other end of the scale produces 221 per million. The world can’t and won’t wait for South Africa to catch up.

We are not safe - we must change.

Perhaps the most sobering statement made by O’ Connell, is that this is not an education issue anymore, it’s a human rights issue. This is a national tragedy and our children are being sold down the river. We have a window of 10 – 15 years to make a change. As a country, we are not safe. We must change – this is the imperative.

Louise van Rijn of Symphonia has a vision of a South Africa where the fabric of society can be strengthened. Education must become a national priority. As a nation, we put so much passion into making the soccer World Cup a success; we can do the same for education.

van Rijn’s plan, already operating in a number of schools, is to use what is already working to fix what is broken. Business knows how to adapt. The time for giving handouts that gather dust is past. Change will come if business applies its extensive knowledge of how to lead large-scale change to the 25 000 schools waiting for inspiration.

A school is a business unit – apply the methods as they would be applied to any business in trouble. At the heart must be communities who become stakeholders and principals who are empowered to lead, equipped with the skills that business can give and being supported in a long-term relationship with that business.

This is not altruism – if business, educators and the community and the state do not work together – there will be no future. This generation must make the breakthrough. 

We must see what is needed – and understand. Now.

Without an educated and thinking new generation, we are lost. Again.