Sunday, October 3, 2021

A Year Behind: Covid-19 Showing the inequalities in South Africa’s Education System

Across the board, the pandemic has had a negative impact on schooling in this country. Those without access to online platforms have fallen even further behind.

This was all from an already badly broken education system.

Maths and science are being impacted in particular

Historically, South African students have been notoriously bad in maths and science. That is to say, the worst and second worst in the world.

Many students are already behind when they begin high school. Due to missing contact classes, this had become even worse.

For all the postulation about why this has been happening in years past, 2021 has given a solid answer. Students have missed out on teaching dosage. In short, they have not received an adequate amount of learning this last year.

Even students attending school have done badly in years past. But with the lack of interaction and an inability to attend extra classes, it is even worse.

The Risks of Falling Behind in Schooling

The measures in place are not working. According to UNICEF learners are currently 9 months to a year behind in their schooling.

Over the last 16 months, as many as half a million students have dropped out of school altogether. This places the number of South African school-age children not in school as high as 750 thousand.

There are a number of negative effects when out of school. Children are exposed to violence and abuse, as well as mental distress. Many of the most vulnerable miss meals that their schools provided. A reduction in social skills is also evident.

The most vulnerable suffer the most

Those with access to online platforms have struggled. However, they are in a position where they can supplement their learning. But the most vulnerable children in this country do not have that luxury.

These are the learners that must be prioritised. They need to be able to return to school in-person.

What is the way forward?

We suggest that this situation needs to be remedied. This is where remedial education would play a vital role in seeing students catch up. Many students would not be able to get the extra attention needed to fill the gaps in their learning in a traditional learning environment.

Remedial education seeks to remedy what is missing in a learner’s schooling experience. This can be due to facing particular learning challenges. Or it can be, as this year has shown acutely, due to missing schooling for a protracted period.

Bibliography/Further Reading:

https://www.enca.com/news/covid-exacerbating-learning-inequalities-study

https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/05/17/years-dont-wait-them/increased-inequalities-childrens-right-education-due-covid

https://www.fundi.co.za/fundiconnect/the-issues-with-south-africas-education-system/

https://japari.co.za/impact-of-lockdown-on-education/

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/02/south-africa-broken-and-unequal-education-perpetuating-poverty-and-inequality/

https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/learners-south-africa-one-school-year-behind-where-they-should-be

https://teachenglishtoday.org/index.php/2011/01/the-matthew-effect-why-extensive-reading-is-so-important-to-literacy-developmen/

https://japari.co.za/

Wednesday, June 2, 2021

Milestones: Development and Academic

Most children can do certain actions by a certain age. These are known as developmental milestones.

Academic milestones are specific skills learnt in each grade at school.

Developmental milestones

Children all develop at their own pace. However, most children are at about the same age as they reach particular milestones.

The study and classification of early childhood development has a long and rich history. It began in the late 1800’s, and flourished in the early twentieth century. Arnold Gesell is credited with the first large-scale detailed study of children’s behaviour. His research confirmed the order and average age by which particular developmental milestones should be reached.

Studies have continued to this day. They extend beyond the early stages of development. There are even theories and categories that focus on adolescence into early adulthood.

The Center for Disease Control Prevention website has helpful articles for each age. They even make suggestions for parents based on the milestones their children should reach at each stage of development.

If you would like to do a deeper dive into this topic there are resources available. The National Academic Press has free resources. These include downloadable pdfs of more academic publications, such as this one. The bibliography/further reading should also point you in the right direction.

Academic Milestones

Debate continues regarding what constitutes learning and how it is best done. What most would agree on is that certain skills should be learnt in each grade throughout school. These are academic milestones.

We have written about the shortcomings of South Africa’s schooling system. It needs a drastic overhaul, and will continue to produce poor results until such time as that happens.

But one thing that the CAPS curriculum did get right was what it aims to teach each year. The problem with CAPS lies not in its content, but the way it has been administered.

Considering what international curricula aim to teach, CAPS tracks pretty well. If the aims of CAPS are implemented and targets met, children will be able to read on an international level. Their mathematics would also be on par with children in other countries.

It is easy enough to get hold of the various curricula online. They are available for download on the government’s education website. This is the link to the language curricula for Senior Phase (Grade 7 – 12). You should find the other subjects on the website for each subject (from maths to life orientation). These are also for the Foundational Phase (Grade R – 3) and the Intermediate Phase (Grade 4 – 6).

Japari School in Johannesburg is slowly working through the primary school milestones. They have done accessible articles for Grade R (in one article), Grade 1 (in three articles) and Grade 2 (in four articles) so far. (The links are to the first article in each series.) It is unclear when they will complete all of them, but keep an eye. It seems all of them will be up in time.

Milestones Are Helpful

Milestones are a very helpful gauge to see whether children are on track. This should be kept in context though. Some children who are perfectly fine do speak or walk a later than their peers.

If you do have a major concern, contact a specialist. This will either put your mind at rest or confirm that your child does need specialised support. Either way, you will be able to effectively address your child’s needs with the correct information.

PLEASE NOTE: This brief article is for informational purposes only, and does not amount to advice. We have provided links to further information that we believe is helpful, but do not necessarily agree with everything that other websites propose, advise or write about.

Bibliography/Further Reading:

Developmental Milestones:

https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/watchmetraining/module2.html

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/adolescent/chapter/history-of-developmental-psychology/

https://www.gettingsmart.com/2016/06/k-12-milestones-what-should-students-know-be-able-to-do-when/

Academic Milestones:

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2158244014536406

https://www.gettingsmart.com/2016/06/k-12-milestones-what-should-students-know-be-able-to-do-when/

https://www.gov.za/faq/education/what-caps

Keeping Milestones in context

https://www.fatherly.com/health-science/reasons-stop-stressing-toddlers-developmental-milestones/

https://www.smartparents.sg/toddler/development-milestones/8-reasons-why-you-shouldnt-stress-over-your-childs-milestones

https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/concerned.html

https://www.collaborativecorner.org/blog/8-steps-to-take-when-you-suspect-your-child-has-a-delay-or-disability

Monday, May 3, 2021

South African Learners with Specialised Needs

South African Learners with Specialised Needs Benefit from Specialised Schools

The South African government has mandated that all students be included in the same teaching environment. This is regardless of their physical or educational needs. The idea is that provision be made for each individual student’s requirements. However, the country has still been unable to meet this obligation.

The Mainstream Schooling Environment is Not Able to Meet the Needs of Regular Learners

The challenge of meeting the needs of remedial learners needs to be considered. As we have seen, schooling in this country is not producing students able to read or do math. In this scenario, how could it be expected that students with special needs would get the education that they need?

There is some debate about the effectiveness of keeping remedial students in mainstream schools. The scholarship on the subject seems somewhat inconclusive. In our context though, the arguments for specialised remedial schools takes on added significance.

Almost 8 out of 10 South African Grade 4’s cannot read with understanding. Almost half our Primary School students cannot do basic maths. This is the environment our learners find themselves in. At mainstream schools, many of the teachers lack the ability to teach effectively. The results continue to show this. It is unreasonable to expect children with special educational needs to have those needs met.

Remedial Schools Would be Best For Remedial Learners

This is why a specialised remedial school would be best for students with these needs.

In a remedial school it isn’t just an extra class that attempts to remediate the learners. The entire school would be geared at addressing the needs of these learners. These are students who need remediation. That would be the core focus of the school. It would not be a side issue, but what the school is aiming to do.

All the staff would be qualified remedial teachers. This means that at every stage, teachers with the experience and qualification are doing the teaching. This is invaluable.

There is also the issue of the stigma of needing additional help with schooling. This could be a daily factor in a mainstream school. They could feel embarrassed about being in “that” class. They could be embarrassed about being one of “those” learners. In a mainstream school, remedial learners might unfortunately experience bullying.

In a specialised remedial school, all the learners would be in the same boat. They would not be labelled by their schoolmates. This would be a healthier daily school environment.

We dream of the day when mainstream schools have the capacity for remedial learners

We can hope for and work towards effective inclusive schooling in this country. But until then, a remedial school would best serve remedial learners.

Bibliography/Further Reading:

Remedial education: separate or integrated:

https://www.education.gov.za/Programmes/InclusiveEducation.aspx

file:///Users/macintoshhd/Downloads/AJODpublishedpaper.pdf

http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0256-01002014000200003

https://japari.co.za/choosing-a-remedial-school-is-better/

[Japari has a write-up here: https://joburgexpat.com/2018/04/special-needs-japari/]

https://www.ourkids.net/school/special-needs-school-benefits

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1065757.pdf

https://sajce.co.za/index.php/sajce/article/view/654/1250

https://www.dsrf.org/blog/inclusive-classrooms-versus-special-needs-classrooms--which-is-best-for-your-child-

file:///Users/macintoshhd/Downloads/77_1_Annual_review.pdf

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/remedial-classes-enables-child-gain-positive-impact-filling-sudhakar

State of Education:

https://citizen.co.za/news/south-africa/education/2059917/why-half-of-sas-primary-school-kids-still-cant-do-basic-maths/

https://www.news24.com/parent/Learn/Learning-difficulties/8-out-of-10-grade-4-learners-cannot-read-for-meaning-and-this-npo-is-trying-to-help-20190604

Sunday, January 3, 2021

The Results are In AGAIN… and South Africa sucks at education!

Amidst the chaos that has been 2020, we received some more bad news. South African students are the worst at science. In the whole world. And they are the second worst in mathematics.

Yes, this is a bugbear of mine. I go on about how education is failing in this country. I’ve written about how badly South Africa is floundering in education before. We have seen how the fact that our grade 4’s cannot read for understanding means we have lost an entire generation of students. Possibly two. Freedom was 26 years ago, after all. But it’s all I can do to try and raise awareness.

But the Government knows!

However, the thing is… we ARE aware! We have seen these results in various surveys over the last ten years. We know this. The powers that be know this. They always release a statement expressing their concern for the results. They talk about the need to address these problems.

And then they go quiet. And we hear about how our matric pass rate has improved. And we hear next to nothing about the problems. Until the next international survey or study that shows that we are moving backwards.

So this proves to be little more than a rant. But maybe, just maybe, it will spark something in someone somewhere who can make a change.

A teacher sheds light on the inanity that is our education department

Chatting to a retired teacher shed some light on why our education system is not going forward. Mrs B mentioned how she had to attend compulsory training for a new curriculum developed for Maths at the Foundation Level. She found that while it was overly heavy on assessment, it was a good curriculum. It could work and covered the basics well. This would set up the students for success in their maths throughout school.

She went on all the training. All the material had been professionally printed and distributed. The curriculum and contents were deployed and the training was satisfactory.

Mrs B made the comment that one of the things that worked so well was that the content was good. Really good. Even an inexperienced teacher could teach it. Even a subpar teacher working through the contents would produce children who could do their sums. Even a bored, disinterested teacher just had to work through the material. It was a good curriculum.

Now, Mrs B. taught at a government school since the ‘70’s. Her opinion on such matters is an informed opinion and should be taken seriously. This was a good curriculum. It had taken time to develop and lots of money to implement. It was worth it, and the government had produced an effective curriculum for mathematics.

It was used for one year, and then abandoned. One year.

Without a vision, our students are perishing

Our students need better. I am not saying anything here that isn’t said when we see the results of international surveys. We cannot afford the time or money to be wasted like this.

Awareness is good and necessary. But we need leaders that will keep their eye on the goal. When the government produces something good, it needs to be implemented. Chopping and changing is one of the reasons that we are regressing.

It is not good enough. Making matters worse, this pandemic will have long-lasting, catastrophic impact on education in South Africa. Now more than ever, we need clear, competent leadership to commit to the goal of improving our educational results.

Some sad Further reading/bibliography:

You can get details on South Africa’s poor performance here:

https://www.businessinsider.co.za/heres-how-sa-pupils-maths-and-science-skills-compare-to-the-rest-of-the-world-2020-12

Very briefly on the pandemic’s impact on South African Education:

https://japari.co.za/impact-of-lockdown-on-education/

For more about the way forward, and how South Africa is not moving in that direction:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-35427853

https://www.news24.com/parent/Learn/Learning-difficulties/8-out-of-10-grade-4-learners-cannot-read-for-meaning-and-this-npo-is-trying-to-help-20190604

https://mg.co.za/article/2018-05-20-south-africas-reading-crisis-focus-on-the-root-cause-not-the-peripherals/

https://www.news24.com/news24/SouthAfrica/News/sa-education-system-one-of-the-worst-in-the-world-the-economist-20170106

https://northernnatalnews.co.za/77802/south-african-learners-worst-reading-world-shows-international-study/

https://businesstech.co.za/news/government/145121/government-celebrates-south-africas-dismal-maths-and-science-results/