A Page out of Mqanduli

The past six weeks working on Ilima lokufunda in Mqanduli, Eastern Cape, South Africa have been an eye-opener. This entailed working with rural schools and the communities they serve, as they prepared for the first day of school in 2010. Because many of us do not live in rural areas, it is hard for us to understand experiences of people living in rural areas. Having said that, I seek out opportunities to expose myself, as a student, to rural people and their way of life. This I have done with the belief that as I interact with them, I learn more about myself, about life in general, and more importantly, I become a learning and better human being.

My most recent exposure to people living in rural areas allowed me to see that the common belief held amongst some people who dwell in urban and peri-urban settlements, that rural is equivalent to poverty, is something we need to talk and think about a little more. When one contrasts rural and urban living, one is able to deduce that schools in rural areas are underfinanced. Furthermore, rural living is characterised by poor facilities, low income, less political power and poor health care.

The fact is rural schools are less resourced in comparison to rich urban schools. This has a direct consequence on the type and quality of education children are offered there. People are people, and should be accorded the dignity they deserve as human beings. That dignity extends to a quality education.

Equally important is that the educators in rural schools are demoralised by the state of the schools they teach in. In one of the schools I visited, a wh*** block of classrooms reek of goat urine. The educators explained that since the school is not fenced, the doors un-lockable, animals seeking shelter make their way into the classrooms. Before school begins each morning in this particular school, learners spend at least an hour cleaning the mess the animals make overnight. This reduces teaching and learning time and, as always, learners suffer.

Over and above that, in this school and many others like it, educators sit with the challenge of curriculum implementation in conditions far from conducive for this. The average number of learners per educator in many rural schools is almost double that of many urban schools. The greatest challenge in this regard is that the curriculum is written for schools with a learner-educator ratio which is half that rural schools have. Overcrowded classrooms are the norm in rural schools.

As responsible citizens we have an obligation to ensure that the many imbalances in our societies are eradicated. We all need to rally our efforts in uplifting rural education. ‘The doors of learning shall be open to all’ our fathers and mothers declared. Let us make this happen.