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<header class="gmail-article-header"><h1>Parents, not politicians, must run schools, says IRR</h1>
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<li class="gmail-article-section enca-south-africa-section-color">South Africa</li>
<li class="gmail-article-date"><time datetime="2018-05-23 7:41:40">Wednesday 23 May 2018 - 7:41am</time></li>
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File: The Institute for Race Relations has found that 'when communities control schools, results improve'.
Photo: eNCA/ Khayelihle Khumalo
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<p>JOHANNESBURG - Most government schools are inferior not because of a
shortage of money but due to corruption, ideological dogma and
incompetent bureaucrats, says the South African Institute of Race
Relations (IRR).</p>
<p>Its report "Parents, not politicians, must run South Africa’s
schools" shows the extent to which the government school system stunts
the development of children, especially black pupils.</p>
<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 on Tuesday.</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>
<p>The institute said its research showed that "when communities control schools, results improve'.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>READ: <a href="https://www.enca.com/opinion/the-success-of-government-schooling-is-all-in-the-numbers" target="_blank">The success of government schooling is all in the numbers</a></strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>"A shortcut to much better education is to get bureaucrats out and let parents take over."</p>
<p>The author of the report, IRR campaign manager Marius Roodt, said the
data in the report showed that only 33 percent of matric candidates
‘passed’ maths with a grade of 40 percent or higher.</p>
<p>It also showed 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. </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," Roodt said.</p>
<p>The report noted, however, that alternative approaches were feasible.</p>
<p>Schools should be sold to community groups, churches, non-profit
organisations and private education providers for a nominal fee, said
the IRR.</p>
<p>"We estimate that 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></section></section>
- <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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