Education under stress in 2020

Writer: This is the good NEWS. -Ed

As the matrics of 2020 face their ultimate test, our special thoughts are with them. The additional pressure they have had to endure this year as a result of the lockdown has been extreme, but we have every confidence that their teachers and families have provided the support they need to meet the challenge.

Of course, the situation has been difficult for all learners, from pre-school upwards, and the effect this disruptive year will have on them in the longer term is yet to emerge. According to Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, 10% of children who were enrolled before lockdown have not returned to school.

But there is another challenging aspect of education, especially in urban communities, which has recently been highlighted by the events at Brackenfell High School in Cape Town.

It is an issue with wide-ranging implications for society in South Africa way beyond 2020, a stark reminder of the level of anger boiling under the surface, just waiting to be triggered. Significantly, it had absolutely nothing to do with the welfare of the already-stressed matrics at the school.

Click below to read more. (The full article can be found on page 10)