If there is one axiom that most politicians or sociologists agree on, it is the importance of education to give every individual the best chance to succeed in life. As various countries struggle to find the Holy Grail of economic success in the context of dismal economic growth prospects, a root-and-branch reform of educational systems often ranks high on their action list.
Some countries have been more successful than others in the search for a winning strategy in education. We now need to ask what the missing dimensions are in our own educational strategies. The starting point has to be the acknowledgment that every country has its own peculiar challenges in the educational field.
My own brief but very rewarding direct experience in education showed that there is more than one dimension missing in our educational reform. However, it must be acknowledged that educational reform is not just about what happens in schools and what educators do or don’t do. The whole social environment in which our educational system functions is immensely important.
It is a sad reality that there are large sections of our society that do not appreciate the importance of education in the lives of young people. This is often not a question of ignorance but one of priorities. For many families putting bread on the table is far more important than ensuring that the children attend school regularly and make the best of the hours of learning to which they are exposed.
Creating financial incentives to encourage students to attend school regularly was undoubtedly well-intentioned and has given some good results. But like every policy it needs to be reviewed from time to time to ensure that it is still effective. Many educators teaching in deprived areas argue that for some students the financial incentives are simply not significant enough to encourage them to take their education seriously.
We have heard sad stories of teachers having to take packed lunches to school to ensure that some of their pupils living in distressed households had something to fill their stomachs while at school. Yet, for other students the money given by the state goes to buy non-essential items that can easily be financed by their families. Social justice demands that students who are most in need should be a higher priority for educational policy-makers than those who can get by without state support.
Our schools need our brightest graduates who are motivated to act as role models with a passion to pass their knowledge on to their students
One thing that irked me most when I was until recently exposed to the realities that educators face on a daily basis in our schools is the lack of importance that is given to discipline. The days of corporal punishment in schools, that some of us were exposed to a few decades ago, are thankfully long gone. But today we may have gone to the other extreme. This is not a nostalgic expression of someone who is getting on in life. It is a reality that is negatively affecting students that are knocking on the doors of employers who have to struggle to achieve efficiency in a harsh competitive business environment.
Egalitarian, neo-liberal, educational thinking aims to convince teachers who are working on the tough coalface of education that success can still be achieved by every student without hard work and adhering to a fair but demanding disciplinary process are doing a disservice to our educational system.
Another missing dimension in the educational reform being undertaken by many Western countries is the importance of having highly-qualified, motivated and inspirational educators who serve as role models to their students. The low pay and the long holidays that teachers usually enjoy are often attracting average graduates who are happy with this mediocre trade-off.
Scarce career advancement prospects, ineffective school management, poor discipline enforcement and general lack of appreciation for the teaching profession can easily destroy the morale of well-meaning young graduates who soon end up frustrated by what they see as a dead-end career.
Our schools need our brightest graduates who are motivated to act as role models with a passion to pass their knowledge on to their students. Their self-esteem will come from the respect that they earn from their students and society and reinforced by being paid a salary comparative to that earned by the best qualified graduates in private industry.
Such educators will feel less inclined to resort to militant trade unionism that understandably flourishes when employees feel that they are being exploited.
johncassarwhite@yahoo.com