The educational side of this thread has been most interesting.
I thought the educational system in SA was very bad but it seems the problems are universal. We have private schools funded by the parents (no Govt. assistance) which have the best facilities and teachers. Costs are very high but results are outstanding. Then we have the Model C schools (the Govt. schools in the former "white" areas) which are funded partially by parents & partially by Govt. The standards are still pretty good but discipline is becoming a problem. Lastly we have the so called township & farm schools which are totally (but inadequately) funded by the Govt. The teachers are unionized, discipline is non-existent & performance is terrible. There seems to be no political will to redress the situation apart from tampering with syllabi & lowering standards to keep the pass rate up. Nevertheless, there have been remarkable results from some of these schools where there remains a nucleus of dedicated teachers (pity they are not all like that). The general demise has also spread to tertiary institutions. Apartheid has been gone for 20 years but still gets the blame. Unfortunately, there is a terrible lingering obsession with race in SA - now a type of reverse apartheid. In the old days, the Coloureds & Indians were not white enough - now they are not black enough - eternally caught in the middle. Social tampering, quotas & "affirmative" action are the order of the day. In the end, it really all comes down to politics and the securing of votes. Where do all the politician's children go the school? You guessed it!
Alan C
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