Stonefountain College corporate dinner, Witteboom Civic Centre
20 March 2007
Mr Shaik
Members of the Board of Governors
Parents and teachers
Distinguished guests
Thank you for inviting me to your second annual corporate dinner. It is a
great pleasure to join you on this special occasion.
Last year in November Mr Shaik addressed a Department of Education
colloquium on school safety. He outlined the drug solution that he had put into
practice at Stonefountain. He impressed us all. The following day the newspaper
headline was "Pandor keen to extend Cape drug testing."
His drug solution at Stonefountain had suddenly become a "Cape" drug
solution.
Mr Shaik showed how a solution to the abuse of drugs could be found through
a contractual agreement between the school, pupils and parents. The public
school system has been cautious about testing for drug use in schools. This is
because such a process is open to abuse and infringement of rights. However
given the well recorded negative impact of drugs on our learners, families,
schools and communities we have decided to draft guidelines to assist schools
in testing and in supporting learners who face this severe social
challenge.
Stonefountain College and Mr Shaik appear to have found a system that works
in the interest of learners. The school leadership should be thanked for
this.
Stonefountain has gone beyond a focus on drug abuse. It has also pioneered
ways of teaching pupils with learning difficulties, usually difficulties with
reading and writing. Many pupils who have difficulties with reading and writing
become disruptive pupils; they have huge difficulties with expressing
themselves, they get bored, they turn to drugs or other ways of expressing
themselves.
In the public system not enough attention is given to those learners with
severe learning difficulties. In the public system it is often not possible to
provide one-on-one tuition, which is most often what they require.
So Stonefountain has a mission to fulfil and a hard task to complete.
The college's motto is "creating thinking people." Clearly such an objective
goes beyond reading and writing and responds to Dewey's idea of creating people
with the power of thought that signifies growth. In the school system those who
can read and write will rise to the top of the class and are rewarded at the
end of 12 years with a university endorsement, we do not yet have a means of
testing social and intellectual maturity. Stonefountain may have found a
way.
Public education systems are structured this (old) way throughout the world.
There is a ranking that places maths, sciences and languages at the top of the
curriculum and places the arts, music, and dance at the bottom. We live in a
content based world and no public education system can afford to rank the
learning of skills in any other way.
Yet in this ranking of subject importance we place creativity at the bottom,
and we make greater difficulties for those children who are unable to unlock
their imaginations through reading and writing.
There is the story � perhaps you have heard it told � of the seven-year-old
sitting at the back of her class. She was a quiet child, unresponsive even, who
spent time drawing when other children were talking and playing. One day her
teacher went to her and looked at what she was drawing.
She asked, "Jane, what are you drawing?"
The child replied, "I am drawing a picture of God."
The teacher was surprised to hear this. She leant down and said quietly to
the child: "Jane, nobody knows what God looks like."
Without missing a beat, the child responded: "They will, when I have
finished my drawing."
It is in stimulating that sort of curiosity and creativity that schools like
Stonefountain have found a special educational niche. Schools like
Stonefountain � independent schools charging modest fees � should be drawn on
to assist innovation in public schools. The public system and the independent
sector need to find ways of learning together.
In recent years there has been call from a number of quarters for improving
learner performance. In response, the Department of Education has put in place
a number of important new policies that will, in time, improve the basic skills
of reading, writing and numeracy � a new curriculum focused on new skills and
abilities, compulsory maths or mathematical literacy, independent assessment,
school improvement plans, and closer attention to learning and teaching.
The improvement of the quality of education is our most important
challenge.
Yet improving the quality of education is not only the responsibility of
those of us in the Department of Education and in the provincial education
departments. Business, universities, teacher unions and other education
stakeholders all have an important role to play in improving quality in
education. The challenge for all of us is to make what we have work better
toward excellence in education.
Quality in education is defined by pupil performance in the schooling
system. There is no other measure for it. Our systemic evaluations show that
far too many of our children are unable to read, to write and to count at the
appropriate level.
How can we improve attainment?
Funding counts, resources count, teachers count - but we know that often the
key to success is parental involvement. In other words, high-quality education
cannot be achieved without the involvement of parents.
Our public system was designed around parental involvement. Our history of
struggle showed that what parents wanted more than anything else was to have
some significant say in how their children were educated. That is why school
governing bodies have such a powerful say in running our public schools.
We know that parental involvement in education significantly improves
learner attainment across all learning areas. In fact, the literature tells us
that parental involvement in the education of their children is twice as
predictive of a child's academic success as a family's socio-economic
status.
Perhaps this explains why among schools of a similar socio-economic status
we often find huge variations in terms of learner performance?
We know that many young people managed to finish school and even go to
university, despite (or because of) the poverty of their parents. Their parents
stressed the value and importance of a good education.
Again research confirms that if we set high (not unreasonable) educational
standards for our children, they perform at higher levels, than when we are
satisfied with just an average pass.
A very important parental activity with children is reading. No child can do
maths or science if he or she cannot read.
We encourage all public schools to set time aside during the school day to
spend a half-hour just reading. Pupils read; or teachers read to pupils. A
reading half hour.
Clearly, half an hour is not enough.
Parents need to read to their children and to listen to their children read
to them.
Homework of course is another important aspect of parental involvement in
the schooling of our children. This often involves creating the space and time
for children to do their homework. And this means limiting TV watching!
In response to such proposals parents often say the curriculum is too
sophisticated and they do not understand their child's schoolwork. It is
important to point out that developing a disciplined work ethic in our children
sometimes only requires support for homework and an interest in the progress of
a child
Also, parents need to work closely with their child's teachers.
There has to be an open and constant dialogue between the school and home.
This dialogue can only happen if there is a partnership between the school and
the home, the teacher and the parent.
And it is here that I believe our education system can learn from
Stonefountain College.
I have been impressed by the partnership that the staff and parents of this
college have been able to establish in order to deal with a major threat you
have identified, not only to the quality of education of your children, but
indeed, a threat to their very lives.
Drug use is not only a problem at Stonefountain College. It is a challenge
that almost all our schools confront on a daily basis.
Mr Shaik states boldly, in his invitation letter to me that, "Stonefountain
College can proudly claim to not have a drug problem, but a drug solution."
And that solution is only possible because parents and staff have recognised
that they are partners in education. Your case proves that the challenge of
drug abuse can be confronted where parents are willing to work with the school
to deal with it.
I salute your efforts in this regard and am hopeful that we will soon be
able to provide other education institutions with guidelines to assist them
with drug testing of learners in schools. I believe that drug testing is
important as it allows us to identify those learners at school who need special
assistance, to remove them temporarily from our classrooms where they pose a
danger to themselves, their fellow learners and their teachers and to ensure
that they are afforded the specialist intervention, rehabilitation and therapy
that they require.
I do not believe that this approach would in any way violate the rights of
the learner. As a matter of fact, I believe that it is necessary to ensure that
we are serious about providing quality education for our children.
In conclusion, let me encourage all of you to get involved in your
children's schools and all schools in our communities. Volunteer and render a
service to your child's institution or your alma mater. Get involved! Let's
give of our time to our children, their education and their future.
I thank you.
Issued by: Department of Education
20 March 2007
