Mpumelelo Sithole of Resmount Primary School shows his team’s compressed air cylinder-driven Formula One car, carefully constructed from paper. Picture: Shelley Kjonstad/African News Agency (ANA)
I bang on a lot about education in this space (forgive me if you’ve already seen some of what follows), but it’s something I’m passionate about and believe we absolutely have to get right if this country is ever to fulfil its potential.
And today we have three stories on various aspects of the issue ‒ two below, and one on page 1 ‒ which give us cause for despair and hope.
We constantly hear about children being precious, the future of the nation etc etc, but then allow criminals ‒ some with sex-crime convictions to their names ‒ to teach them (see page 1).
This dereliction of duty by schools is unconscionable and woe betide the management of a school which hires such a teacher who subsequently molests a child.
On the other hand, there is cause for hope for our children, but courtesy of the private sector (see below on this page).
Thanks to the work of The Unlimited Child, a million underprivileged children have received education which prepares them for entry to the school system.
And thanks to private company Mahle, the interest of Grade 7 pupils in science, technology, engineering and maths (the STEM subjects) was stimulated through a fun Formula 1 challenge involving paper cars powered by compressed air.
It is through such practical and innovative initiatives that we can improve the fortunes of especially underprivileged children. We can only hope that the government takes note and makes every effort to facilitate, not frustrate, such efforts.
The Independent on Saturday