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 The future is in your hands 

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Addressing pupils at the Soweto Learner Summit yesterday, hosted by the Gauteng education department, MEC for education Barbara Creecy, pictured, said that because of the history of the area they had become concerned about the performance of schools.

Some of the issues facing pupils were absenteeism, drug and alcohol abuse, rape, teenage pregnancies and ill-discipline among the pupils and teachers.

"The future is in your hands" was the theme for the summit.

Jabulani Technical High School head boy Hlalanathi Dlamini said problems were caused by both the teachers and pupils and he urged that pupils' concerns be taken seriously.

"We commit to taking responsibility for our actions and setting a good foundation for the next generation."

Creecy said the 2011 matric pass rate in Soweto schools was 67.7%, which was a worry because of the 81% pass rate the rest of Gauteng achieved.

The Secondary School Intervention Programme (SSIP) was organised for Soweto pupils to attend during school holidays in an attempt to raise the pass rate.

"If you attend these classes, you will pass matric, I guarantee you. I'm struggling to get the people who really need it to attend," she said.

Each speaker made reference to the class of 1976 who sacrificed their lives to ensure freedom and good education for all South Africans.

"The 1976 group took to the streets because those were the circumstances. We need to take to the classrooms and the libraries," Dlamini said.

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inkosin@sowetan.co.za

Comments

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Fri May 24 21:11:07 SAST 2013 ::

Jul 4, 2012

Papage

I hear you minister, please try to speak to the alcohol licensing Board to stop giving licences to people to trade with alcohol and tell the police to arrest illigal alcohol outlets, how do we control our youth and yet giving them so much alcohol, building alcohol outlets in the gates of schools? It is only the Government that can assist change that, we dont have means.
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Jul 4, 2012

Shredder

@Papage - I used to drink at school and I still got an exemption because I prioritized studying than drinking. We had afternoon and Saturday classes which were not conducted by teachers, but by guys who matriculated in the previous year. Some were either at the technikon or were at home still looking for jobs or at home becasue they could not afford to go to tertiary. It was a brilliant initiative by selfless people who wanted to help the students and they were not doing for money, they did it willingly.
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Jul 4, 2012

BrothaX

What I think the DoE should do is to conduct different research surveys which could focus on comparing,
1. Teacher morality before pre and post 1994, sampling teachers that used to teach in former homeland schools and then RSA schools
2. Student behaviour pre and post 1994
3. Student drop out and drop out causes pre and post 1994
4. The impact school Inspectors had in the entire education system
5. Effectiveness of corporal punishment
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Jul 4, 2012

MsKinkyakaKamaSutra

Ms Creecy it is not only Soweto schools.............

Mzansi (black) schools are really fukced up with only a few for exception.
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Jul 4, 2012

MommaC

So now the kids must be the adults whilst the adults relinquish all responsibility?

With all due respect, the kids simply live to what is expected of them. If the teacher is half poegeyed, the windows are broken, the principal is away for 3 hour lunches and the department can't be bothered to send in monitors - well it is hardly surprising that the kids don't respect their school uniforms
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Jul 4, 2012

1andonlybucs

yes they have to take discipline. but remember these are young students. adults should provide discipline to these pupils. they cannot do it on their own. if their parnts cannot do it. then its up to the teachers to act as parents... mrs minister all you need to do is to make sure that the kids are getting well educaded as it will push them to set up career goals for themsevles and work hard to acheive them. these will help them avoid going to bottle stores!!!!
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Jul 4, 2012

Papage

@ Shredder during your time you drinked Patlama re go serche, not the green staff they are drinking now, it is pure poison and damages they thinking capacity, hence they use their Zipz to think and end up raping kids. Yes we did drink, a lot nog all, but never ever did the stupit things they are doing and we passed heh!. Broer, let us start a weekend Classes at our Churches and educate our youth good morals
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Jul 4, 2012

Shredder

@Papage - during your time you drinked Patlama re go serche,
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What is patlama re go serche? I didn't grow up in the rural areas, I won't know about that.

We drank beer and Smirnoff Gin mixed with Tropika juice. kikikiki.

The thing is we drank and at the same time not forgetting that we were students. It was not a habitual thing. It used to happen on Mondays and Fridays and we made sure that we were at the back of the house and were not doing it in public to show everyone. Sheeeeeeer, I remember there was a day when there was this stokvel next to our school and many students went there to drink. 2 teachers noticed that, hell broke lose. Those students really got a hiding that day. Girls and boys got a hiding.

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Jul 4, 2012

junta99ekurhuleni

Bulls#it!!!. I used to drink while I was at school, but I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life. Some of today's scholars who are smoking zol, drinking papsak, and watching porn on cellphone-if not recording another young women being raped at school, do these things just to appear cool, which is very stupid, they end up opening car-washes in every open space they could find which ultimately makes them unemployable
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Jul 4, 2012

dennilton1

bring back thupa and away with children's rights.
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