Open Letter to the Minister of Basic Education- A well thought recovery plan for the class of 2020 that takes into consideration the circumstances of our schools and communities needed by South Africa

Dear Honourable Angie Motshekga- South African Minister of Basic Education

The unexpected global crisis of Covid-19, the subsequent declaration of a national state of disaster and lock down of the country has thrown the plans for education in 2020 into a complete disarray. No one can argue this otherwise.

I have listened to your recent media interviews and can’t help to think that, till now, no plans exist to mitigate the risk to teaching and learning especially for learners in public schools that are not so well resourced in terms of ICT. The impact of the current situation is more dire for learners who are from poor communities in the townships, squatter camps and deep rural areas.

It is understandable that as a leader in this sector, especially you can’t just throw in a towel and indeed, the rest of us should not dare give up without a fight. However, considering that probability is high for an extension of the lock down period in order to arrest the spread of the virus is high we need a proactive plan that can be easily implemented when the situation permits- a plan that is realistic and will avert the looming catastrophe in the education sector. Your assertion that “… the 2020 academic year will not go down the drain” is both necessary and commendable but let’s get down to work and get ready with a turnaround strategy and plan that will take us across this hurdle safely, with all our learners.
I am a young teacher, dedicated and passionate and being a university graduate I fully understand the potential of ICT within favourable environments in improving teaching and learning. I’m aware and so do you Minister, that as we speak, learners in privileged schools continue with learning being assisted by ICT which is well established in their schools and continuously accessible at home. On the contrary learners on the other side of this equation have absolutely no learning going on at this point in time.

I’m therefore pleading with you to urgently consider consulting widely with key players in the sector, parents, teachers and others and garner all necessary intelligence and support and be ready with an implementable plan for now as well as post the crisis. We tend to underestimate the power of consulting painstakingly with all the recipients of our policies and plans and become shocked when encountered with unexpected hurdles as we start implementing them- this embarrassingly glaring point was demonstrated this week by the lockdown implementation in townships and rural areas which was not such a success. The 2020 academic year cannot go down the drain, I agree fully, but a different way of doing things including the assessment method for grade 12 may be required this year Honourable Minister.

In my class of 45 learners and indeed in many teacher’s classes that teach under similar circumstances as mine, about 72% of learners have what is called “code 0-4” meaning that all these learners are dependent on teacher contact time to make significant progress- limited contact time through ICT and let alone no contact time at all as it has been the case with my learners since schools closed will be disastrous for them. They struggle to cope without a teacher in front of them and if they have to be put under extra pressure because calendars have not been modified, they will crumble under pressure. You know honourable minister that, about 45% of schools do not have adequate ICT infrastructure and also many our learners from impoverished homes do not have Wi-Fi access at home to access without interruption the digital links and platforms you speak about. Honourable Minister, you also know that about 11% of the learners in grade 12 are YIP learners, meaning that they did not pass on their own to be in grade 12- thus, they require huge support from the teacher as well as the parents. If we as teachers and psychologist who are constantly in touch with the learners that require extra support are not available can they be expected to perform miracles during examination time if absolutely no remedial measures, including modification of the calendar are put in place in time and communicated adequately.

I plead with you Honourable Minister, let us avoid a looming disaster of ending up with about 22% of learners which will dropout before they even finish their trial exam. There will be exacerbation of mental health challenges such as depression, anxiety etc- lets avoid this by planning and communicating well ahead. We can all safely plan for an extended period of lockdown and if we are lucky as a country, we will simply modify the plan- let us not wait for the last moment. Let us be realistic and acknowledge that there is no learner at this stage who resides in the township, a squatter camp or a remote rural area who will be able to cope with learning from home amidst the chaos we have seen on TV in these areas.

I therefore request you, honourable minister to consult with learners, parents, teachers, psychologist and the whole community in order to get a clear picture of the circumstances on the ground and craft a realistic turnaround strategy for the 2020 class and not wait for the last moment. Perhaps it would also be useful to engage the Minister of Higher Education and that sector as a whole and draw lessons on how they mitigated the risk during and post the “FEES MUST FALL” movement. I do believe that if Minister Motshekga you take some time and study the approaches that Universities adopted, we can reduce the number of dropouts, reduce failure rate and minimise the mental health impact on our learners. The time that has already been lost in the past two weeks is significant for a grade 12 learner and as teachers we do know that our learners do not cope well with 9 months they are afforded to learn in a normal year. I suggest 32hour investigation questions, sometimes known as take home examination where learners can show the skill of reading and understanding as well as the skill of research and writing. All these skills are necessary for tertiary as well as the work place.

A Chinese philosopher Confucius who was also known as Kong Qui or K’ung Fu-tzu once said “A man who does not plan long ahead will find trouble at his door.” Let us plan minister and gear up to turn around this sector and alleviate the impact of Covid-19 in a proactive and grassroots-up inclusive consultation fashion.


I thank you!

Yours in Education
S Mkoka- A teacher and a parent.