We must act as one to address the challenges of our education system:
- Weak institutional functionality: implementation of national policies varies significantly from region to region, indicating an institutional administration in disarray.
- Undue union influence: unions interfere with the ability of the education system to act in the best interests of learners by reducing accountability and compromising the quality of education through self-serving behaviour.
- Weak teacher content knowledge and pedagogical skill: teachers generally lack basic levels of content and pedagogical (teaching) skills, with one study finding that 79% of teachers displayed content knowledge below the grade that they are teaching at.
- Wasted learning time and insufficient opportunity to learn: because there are limited resources and accountability, most children will miss more than half of the prescribed curriculum and half of the scheduled classes per year. On average, learners only write one paragraph in their books for 6 weeks they spend at school.
- Curriculum: the current curriculum does not provide learners with skills required for gainful employment in a fast-changing labour market, nor does it empower young people to start their own businesses.
- Post-matric and adult education: our education system does not do enough to provide education options to adults that were denied access to quality education, and the post-matric education options are not aligned with the needs of the labour market.