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<header><h1>State schools stunting children's development, says shocking new report</h1><p class="gmail-meta"><a href="https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics">Politics</a><span> / </span><span>22 May 2018, 6:58pm</span><span> / </span><span><strong>Lindi Masinga</strong></span></p><div><div class="gmail-social-icons"><ul><li><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.iol.co.za%2Fnews%2Fpolitics%2Fstate-schools-stunting-childrens-development-says-shocking-new-report-15108904" title="Share on Facebook"><img src="https://www.iol.co.za/assets/images/social-icons/facebook-rnd-ico.svg" alt="Share on Facebook" id="gmail-article-facebook-share"></a></li><li><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?via=IOL&text=State%20schools%20stunting%20children's%20development%2C%20says%20shocking%20new%20report&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.iol.co.za%2Fnews%2Fpolitics%2Fstate-schools-stunting-childrens-development-says-shocking-new-report-15108904" title="Share on Twitter"><img src="https://www.iol.co.za/assets/images/social-icons/twitter-rnd-ico.svg" alt="Share on Twitter" id="gmail-article-twitter-share"></a></li><li><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&title=State%20schools%20stunting%20children's%20development%2C%20says%20shocking%20new%20report&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.iol.co.za%2Fnews%2Fpolitics%2Fstate-schools-stunting-childrens-development-says-shocking-new-report-15108904" title="Share on LinkedIn"><img src="https://www.iol.co.za/assets/images/social-icons/linkedin-rnd-ico.svg" alt="Share on LinkedIn" id="gmail-article-linkedin-share"></a></li><li><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/state-schools-stunting-childrens-development-says-shocking-new-report-15108904#email-share" class="gmail-show-popup" title="Share via Email"><img src="https://www.iol.co.za/assets/images/social-icons/email-rnd-ico.svg" alt="Tell a Friend" id="gmail-article-email-share"></a></li></ul></div></div></header><div class="gmail-article-body"><figure><div class="gmail-sixteen-nine"><img class="gmail-imgLandScape" src="https://image.iol.co.za/image/1/process/620x349?source=https://inm-baobab-prod-eu-west-1.s3.amazonaws.com/public/inm/media/file/1/1867284/1452248240/image/1690598072.jpg&operation=CROP&offset=0x6&resize=623x350" alt="" title="File picture"></div><figcaption><span class="gmail-imageCaption">File picture</span></figcaption></figure><div class="gmail-articleBodyMore" id="gmail-article-more-body"><p>Johannesburg
- The South African Institute of Race Relations (IRR) said on
Tuesday that a report of theirs exposed the extent to which the
State-run school system was stunting the development of South Africa’s
children, especially black pupils.</p>
<p>The IRR said the report, titled "Parents, not politicians,
must run South Africa’s schools" was the first edition of FreeFACTS that
they complied.</p><div class="gmail-teads-inread gmail-sm-screen" style="margin:16px 0px;height:391px;max-width:610px"><div style="margin-left:0px;margin-right:0px"><div class="gmail-teads-ui-components-adchoices" style="display:block"></div><div class="gmail-teads-ui-components-label" style="display:block">ADVERTISING</div><div class="gmail-teads-player" id="gmail-teads0"></div><div class="gmail-teads-ui-components-credits" style="display:block"><a href="http://inread-experience.teads.tv" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span class="gmail-teads-ui-components-credits-colored">inRead</span> invented by Teads</a></div></div></div>
<p>"The report argues that the bulk of our state schools ‘are not in the
main inferior because of a shortage of money. Many emerging markets
spend less on education than South Africa, but produce much better
results," the IRR said.</p>
<p>"In South Africa’s case, however, ‘corruption, destructive trade
unions, ideological dogma, and incompetent bureaucrats and politicians
are responsible for the fact that only a small majority of children will
be well educated’."</p><div id="gmail-ad-inarticle-middle"><div id="gmail-google_ads_iframe_/116466607/IOL/news/politics/state-schools-stunting-childrens-development-says-shocking-new-report-15108904_4__container__" style="border:0pt none;display:inline-block;width:300px;height:250px"></div></div>
<p>The institute said their research showed that ‘when communities
control schools, results improve’, they said the report marked the case
for a constructive alternative, suggesting that ‘a shortcut to much
better education is to get bureaucrats out and let parents take over’.</p>
<p>"The data in this report shows, among other things, that only 33
percent of matric candidates ‘passed’ maths with a grade of 40 percent
or higher, that just 29.2 percent of schools have a library, that only
18.3 percent of government schools have a science laboratory, and that
only 13 percent of the 2006 grade-1 class managed a university entry
qualification when they wrote matric in 2017," author of the report, IRR
Campaign Manager Marius Roodt said.</p>
<p>"This may be the future of your child if you don’t find an
alternative outside of the government school system – but few people can
afford private schools."</p>
<p>The report noted, however, that alternative approaches capable of
achieving the ‘short cut’ to better education outcomes were feasible.</p>
<p>The IRR said schools should be sold to community groups, churches,
non-profit organisations, and private education providers for a nominal
fee and let them run such schools within agreed guidelines.</p>
<p>"We estimate that these vouchers will be sufficient to finance
high-quality education for every child in the country. Parents can
redeem these vouchers at any school of their choosing and top up the
voucher with their own funds in the event that the school charges higher
fees," Roodt said.</p>
<p>"By giving parents the choice and buying power to decide on the
education of their children they then have the power to control the
curriculum, language policy, and ethos of the school they send their
children to... It is not for the government and politicians to decide
how to raise your child. That is for you to decide."</p>
<p>The IRR said this edition of FreeFACTS coincided with the launch of
the IRR’s Education Charter, which was an initiative to give South
Africans the opportunity to endorse greater parental involvement in
schools as a first step to rescuing the education system from the grave
crisis it was in.</p>
<p>"It will urge them all to heed growing public anxiety about the state
of education in South Africa, and to implement policies that give
parents the greater control and influence over schools which,
universally, have led to better results in the classroom," the institute
said.</p>
<p><b>African News Agency/ANA</b></p></div></div>
<br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div>
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