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MyPE

MyPE

Community Business Directory, Event Listings, News and Views from Gqeberha, Nelson Mandela Bay

Friday Rant – Education in SA

27 July 2012 By Alan Straton

This morning I ploughed through the interview of Mr Mrara, Chairperson of the Oversight Committee for Education in the Eastern Cape by Theunis Pienaar of Kingfisher FM.

And all I heard was “ehm ehm ehm ehm”, “budget”, “demanding”, “challenges”, “issues” “very optimistic”, “um, um, um”, “focus on management challenges” …..

With 3 600 Eastern Cape temporary teachers still in limbo, schools not being paid for these temporary teachers, schools having to raise fees and do without essential services, schools trying to educate our youth via demotivated and beaten teachers one would be hard pressed to find a ray of light.

The East Cape Education Administration Department has become that bloated greedy shark that ate up all the food in the ocean and is now blaming other predators for the predicament. Somewhere in the last decade billions that should have gone to educating our youth was wasted in shoring up an administrative ivory tower.

That South Africa has the largest education budget in Africa is held up as a good thing never ceases to amaze me. In normal business, when a department is underperforming on their mandate, you certainly do not give them more money year after year that they underperform. Swift, decisive action is needed to cut the cancer out – singing and dancing and posing for photographs does not solve the problem.

The fact that there are approximately 700 farm schools in the Eastern Cape is presented as a challenge – now where did those come from? Is this something that only popped up now? Surely this should have been addressed when the grand plan of OBE was introduced? Or was OBE just another way to siphon money into cadre pockets?

Guys, when you lose focus on the country as a whole and only focus on filling your pockets and those of your sycophantic mates then the time has come for you to be dealt with behind the bicycle sheds with a swift clip to the ear, a bloody nose and quiet dignified sobbing.

Lets face it – what business these days would trust any government department to effectively run their hiring, firing and paying of staff? So why do we trust an ineffectual education administration with managing teachers who, through educating, are entrusted with the most vital of tasks that makes a country great?

Hamba, Jobs for Pals, Hamba!

I dare you to shake your head in wonder and push play to listen to the Interview on Kingfisher FM with Mr Mrara, Chairperson of the Oversight Committee for Education in the Eastern Cape. Theunis Pienaar asks some straight questions & gets some somewhat illusive answers:

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Alan Straton

Chief Cook, Bottle Washer and Broom Mechanic at MyPE
Passionate about Port Elizabeth and definitely NOT packing for Perth. Alan's ethos is epitomised in the words of Nelson Mandela; "I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society. If need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." See more articles by Alan.
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Filed Under: Education Tagged With: education, kingfisher, mrara, theunis pienaar

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Janine Meyburgh says

    27 July 2012 at 9:17 am

    Education – The ANC’s biggest crime against humanity!

  2. TheKing1 says

    27 July 2012 at 9:29 am

    ANC – self-serving thieves

  3. Theunis Pienaar says

    27 July 2012 at 10:08 am

    let’s see if the judgement makes any difference, the list of issues is still quite long though … much more than just staffing …

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