Editorial
Johannesburg - A bonanza awaits South African teachers, particularly those at the start of their careers – a bounty of almost R240 000, on top of an annual salary of around R625 000 to teach in Britain, from September this year.
It’s part of a bid by the British government to attract teachers, especially from countries with historic ties to the UK. Moves are afoot to recognise teaching qualifications South African and other qualifying countries on the same level as those from Europe, the US, Australia and New Zealand.
It is wonderful news for our teachers and a massive affirmation of the quality of teachers our universities produce. Our own Department of Basic Education is encouraging South African teachers to consider the UK scheme because we apparently have more teachers than we need.
Which, of course, begs the question: if we have too many and those that we do have – and even those who can’t get jobs here - are literally of international quality, then why do we have such appalling matric results? Why are 81% of our Grade 4s unable to read for meaning in any language, according to the most recent Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS)?
If our teachers are good enough, which they apparently are, then where does the problem lie? It can’t only be the children, certainly not at that scope and scale of dysfunction. It can’t only be the parents. It has to be what is happening in the classroom.
Ergo, the fault has to lie with the department. Either, our teachers aren’t as good as the department claims they are – and should be properly managed. Or, they aren’t properly resourced, and there aren’t enough of them to make inroads into this major issue of early literacy.
It isn’t rocket science, but then again, neither is our matric pass rate.