This week was one of closing old chapters and opening a blank page of new beginnings in our household.
My brother was one of the more than 880 000 matrics who received their matric results on Wednesday.
The study sessions that ran to late hours last year became anxiety-filled sleepless nights as results day drew closer.
He had studied hard and was confident in his abilities but hung on to the hope that he would do well enough to study further.
A few hours after he learnt that he got a bachelor’s pass, my daughter started her first day of nursery school.
There were no tears, just excitement and eyes wide with curiosity. She will be in a school environment for nearly 17 more years.
We hang on to the hope that she will fulfil her potential.
In both cases, that hope is despite a frail, underfunded, underresourced and often demoralised education system.
A system where only about half of those who begin Grade 1 will matriculate.
There are diverse reasons for this, some within a child’s control and many not.
Still, the sheer number is so large that it can be nothing other than a shocking indictment on the education system that the Department of Basic Education cannot simply wave away, as Minister
Siviwe Gwarube tried to do this week.
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Speaking to students and teachers this week, it was clear that to overcome the obstacles and get the most out of the system, they need not only hope but also the support of parents.
They spoke about the need to get involved and motivate as a formula for success.
Too often children are put in schools and expected to come out with a matric certificate, as if it is a simple equation that is guaranteed to always produce the same conclusion without any other effort.
Children are not like switching on a cellphone, they do not require minimum effort and instant results. Sadly, too often parents will pay more attention to their phones, and the escapism it offers, than their children, and then complain when their children do not do as well as expected at school.
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But hope is all we South Africans often have when those who are meant to guide, serve and protect us fail.
The hope of those whose loved ones were stuck in the Stilfontein mine did little when authorities dragged their feet with rescue efforts.
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As of Thursday, 78 bodies had been retrieved from the mine and 246 illegal miners rescued. A large majority of these foreign nationals.
Such staggering numbers point to failure from so many sides from companies that should have ensured the mines were properly closed to police and border security.
Nearly every sector is affected by the plague of incompetence, apathy, negligence and corruption; none of which can be remedied by merely hoping for the best.
But we wake up every morning, send our kids to school, pay our taxes and still hope.
Hope that today the story will be different.
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