This is the VOA Special English Education Report, from http://voaspecialenglish.com | http://facebook.com/voalearningenglish
Since the
nineteen nineties, education has been required for all South Africans from age
seven to fifteen. Last December, the government announced that seventy percent
of students passed their final examination to finish high school. In two
thousand eight the passage rate was about sixty-three percent. There have been
increases each year since then. Professor Shireen Motala at the University of
Johannesburg says access to basic education is no longer the problem in South
Africa. She says most children stay in school until they are about sixteen. The
problem now, she says, is that large numbers of them leave without completing
high school. Students take an examination known as the matric in grade twelve,
their final or "matriculation" year. But Professor Motala says only around
forty-five percent of the children who started school in two thousand sat for
the matric last year. South Africa has a twenty-four percent unemployment rate.
Those who drop out must compete with better educated people for jobs.
Educational researchers also point to another problem. They say South African
schools do not produce enough students with the skills for higher education in
math and science. Researcher Graeme Bloch says many schools are not
well-equipped. "The reality of poverty," he says, is that many children do not
see laboratories or libraries at school. "Ninety-two percent of the schools do
not have libraries." Also, education specialists say in many cases, teachers and
school principals do not have the skills or training to do their jobs. In other
cases, they are simply not doing their duty to provide an education. Professor
Motala says a number of teachers were poorly trained during the system of
apartheid, or racial separation in South Africa. Apartheid ended in nineteen
ninety-four. Secondly, she says, teachers have been confused by the many
educational reform efforts in the last fifteen years. And, finally, she thinks
language differences in the classroom have not gotten as much attention as they
should. Subjects such as math and science are taught in English starting at
about age ten. But South Africa has eleven official languages and many more
unofficial ones. South Africa's minister of basic education promises a number of
improvements. Angie Motshega says teacher development efforts will focus on
subject and content knowledge, and making sure the correct teachers are in the
correct jobs. For VOA Special English, I'm Carolyn Presutti.
(Adapted
from a radio program broadcast 08Mar2012)
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