Firing Motshekga like sticking plaster on a gunshot wound

In any properly functioning democracy, an education minister who presides over a school system with declining achievements, would either be fired, or would resign. In South Africa? Not so much…

Understandably there have been calls for the head of Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga after the latest international reading survey revealed 81% of South African Grade 4 pupils could not read for meaning, and had regressed to 2011 standards.

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Even worse, 56% of our Grade 6 pupils, taking that same grade 4 comprehension assessment, were found to be unable to read for meaning.

SA finished bottom of the 57 countries surveyed in the Grade 4 assessment – and while the disruptions of Covid undoubtedly played a major role, our results were worse than the others. Our Grade 4s, for example, are three years behind children in schools in Brazil.

The excuse that the tests were done in English cannot be used, because it was found that the pupils could not read for meaning in any of our 12 official languages.

The problem with our education system, is that it has been set up to lull the country into a false sense of security that our children are not only being given a decent education, but that education is globally competitive.

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Our government and its factotums pat themselves on the back every year with Matric passes in provinces of 70% and up. Yet, when those same matriculants enter university, many are found to be unable to cope academically.

Cynics might say that it suits the ANC perfectly to have the illusion of success, while the bulk of the population are not functionally literate.

Such people are easy prey for politicians, because they are ill-equipped to discern when they are being lied to. Firing the minister, then, would be like sticking plaster on a gunshot wound.

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