The Education Africa: Networks and Coalitions for Securing Non-Profit Funding case study was launched at the Gordan Institute of Business Science on November 14 and discussed the state of education in the country.
The event in Illovo hosted panellists: Dr Tracey Toefy, Founder and CEO of Education Africa, James Urdang, Professor Jonathan Jansen and Miles Japhet.
The case study was researched and written by Dr Tracey Toefy and Abdullah Verachia and details the journey that Urdang has taken to ensure that the South African non-profit organisation continues to grow and impact lives. The case overviews the various programmes that Education Africa runs, highlighting their importance in providing holistic educational offerings to children in various communities.
To help unpack the question regarding the state of South Africa’s education system, Professor Jonathon Jansen explained that in many ways South Africans have been numb to the crisis of the state of education in the country.
“Think about it, if 81% of Grade 4 learners cannot read for understanding, in any self-respecting democracy the president would make sure everything comes to a halt and put a time frame on when the reading problem must be solved. Children not being able to read does not mean they cannot only read a book, but it means they cannot read generally for understanding the world around them.”
Urdang agreed with Jansen that the education system was concerning. He said, “Unless we fix the state of our education our country will not go anywhere. I find it troubling that 30 years into our democracy, for a black child to receive a quality education is still about beating the system which should not be happening.”
The Education Africa founder added that he was also worried about the early childhood development realm, due to the foundation phase of a child being the most important and if it was not nurtured we would have another lost generation.
Answering the question about how and what it would take to better the education system, Miles Japhet noted that it had to start with having a value system and finding people who have a servant leadership culture. “Great leadership determines the nature of any organisation which also applies to the education system.”
The case has been published through Ivey Publishing, the publishing house of Ivey Business School in Canada. The case is also available on the Harvard Business Publishing Education site.
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