July 31

Today was a lecture day, three 1hour 15 minute lectures on South Africa in the 21st century, politics, and foreign policy. We also had a panel of four teachers, mostly from township schools, who came in and talked about education in SA.

Much of what they said is exactly what we face, but to a higher degree. We have 35-40 in a class, they have 50-55. Class size is an issue.

They have irrational pacing guides, theirs from the National Curriculum Board, ours from our states and districts, both created largely by people who aren't in the classroom. Although after talking to the teachers here and those around the states on this trip with me, I have to hand it to Puyallup that we have a lot more input than most on curriculum development. They have students coming to school unprepared to learn, just like we do, but for them the students come from the rural Eastern Cape province and are far behind.

They lack parental support. Parents don't see the value in education. Those who do, send their kids out of the township schools to schools like Oude Moulen, where Brigitt told me she gets a lot of parent support.

They are low paid. R11,000 per month, with a take home of about R5,000. More than half of their pay is taken in taxes. In a country where only 20% of the elligible workers make enough to pay taxes, the tax rates are very high. At least we are still at 1/3 of our pay going for taxes.

They have limited resources and money to enhance their curriculms. I can understand that too. I gave the drama teacher who spoke with us my email. I told her I'd like to share some resources with her. She was an English teacher with no training and is now teaching drama. Hmmm....been there, done that. But can you imagine 50 drama students in a room?

They talked a lot about how HIV/AIDS is affecting their teaching. It touches everything here. You can't walk down the street with out seeing signs about the rate of infection and safe sex, but still the teenage pregnancy rate is exploding, even with the government providing free contraception. Plus, it is a problem for teachers who have relationships with their students. It's not uncommon for a male or female teacher to have a series of affairs with his/her students, especially in the junior-senior high.

There are very few female administrators, and there is no specialized training to be an adminsitrator. Most are teachers who simply applied for the postion or were given the position because of politics and nepotism.

I could go on and on, but I'm sure this is not the most fun topic to read about. I'm going to Indian food tonight with my friend, Melanie, while most of the others go to a rugby game. Tomorrow we go for a wine tasting, shopping in green market square, and to the botanical gardens.