We know South Africa’s Education system is challenged. But this isn’t about what’s wrong. It’s about what’s possible, and what we need to get to what’s possible!
South Africa (09 February 2024) — It’s no secret that South Africa’s education system faces a myriad of challenges. Public education institutions bear the brunt of these, especially in lower-income and rural communities. But if the learners who made us so proud in 2023 with their historic matric results are anything to go by, we know that South Africa’s education system is a story that’s still being written.
The ‘modern education system’ has not changed very much from the time it was actually modern in the early 1900s. Then, it was designed as a system that would help young people with the skills they needed to become employees. But this blueprinted outlook didn’t take into account numerous countries’ circumstances, prospects, historical underpinnings or, most importantly, the actual psycho-social support students in impoverished communities need.
As Mahlatse Mabaso of Rays of Hope NGO shares:
“We must consider the needs of the whole child, with a holistic approach to education.”
Holistic education is an approach that many educators have vouched for. Not only is it one solution that takes the child as a human and not just a surname into account, but it is also one that makes a lot of sense for impoverished communities.
Taking holistic learning a step further is SEL—Social and Emotional Learning.
As Rays of Hope—who have a lot of experience working with children in Alex— indicates, the learning experience for so many children is greatly overshadowed by emotional and social concerns, like crime in their environments.
But, SEL looks at these concerns head on, and actively teaches learners to find constructive ways to deal with their emotions and frustrations in ways that differ from what they might be taught at home. This approach looks at self-awareness and processing.
“Taking a holistic approach to education by integrating SEL within the fabric of South African school curriculums is a better approach to addressing the challenges the education sector faces. It’s for this reason that Rays of Hope embraces a holistic strategy to providing care and support to children in Alex that takes the whole child into consideration,” Mahlatse shares.
Adds Dr Sibongiseni Kumalo: “Humans are social beings. To be social is to consider the self in the context of others. We are all also holistic beings with a purpose, different values, and different ways of learning and understanding the world. All these complexities need to be taken into consideration when building educational frameworks for today’s learners. We can’t focus solely on learning when the environment, for instance, is not conducive enough for this to take place successfully.”
When we start talking about solutions instead of repeating the challenges, we start to make headway. And although there may not be a one-size-fits-all approach to any of South Africa’s education flaws, we know that the answer is not going to be found or worked on until we look at the most important piece of the puzzle: the child.
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