30% pass mark means 70% fail

Recently the Minister of Basic Education announced her department was seeking public commentary about the planned changing of the matric maths pass mark from 30% to 50%.

I personally don't understand why there is need for public consultation on the matter. I reckon it should have been a matter of the Ministry coming out saying, "we are going to change..." rather than "should we change..." and then seeking public comments.

In case you have never thought of it this way, a 30% 'pass' mark actually means the person doesn't know 70% of the content of the subject matter. My opinion is that the minimum pass mark should be 50% across the board- i.e. all subjects and not just Maths. Mediocrity systematically starts at this level and results in a smaller pool from which to draw the engineers, scientists, doctors etc which the country needs. The low standard which learners in the South African basic education level are subject to does not bode well for the socio-economic-political stability of our country.

A lot of money is allocated to education each and every year, but we don't seem to see any significant progress in addressing the multitude of problems besetting the education sector. We are sitting with a systemic prbblem which needs for the government to make a systemic overhaul of the education system. (See my next article for some proposed interventions)

TS
03/10/2013

*Campaign for 50% pass mark across the board*

FEED THAT BABY- Idea Series Part 1

There was a young mother who had come with her new born baby to receive some services from the clinic. She was being attended to by a male nurse and I saw them walking toward the waiting area where other mothers were sitting. Though I couldn’t hear their conversation their actions gave the story of what was taking place.
The nurse spoke to one of the (older/more experienced) mothers to illustrate how to hold the baby in a way which ensured it could suckle properly. The young mother was told to hand over her baby to the older mother so she could hold the child. As she was doing so the nurse was explaining and pointing out the ideal cradling position and tilt of the head. He would then check with the young mother if she was taking note of the instruction.
After observing all this, there were some key lessons which stood out for me which I decided should be shared on this platform.

Lessons learnt

a) In life there are times we give birth to ideas, concepts etc but we might not have the ability to nurture them and see them grow to their full potential. There is need for people to come alongside us (like the nurse) to take us through the paces.

b) Those who come alongside us might not necessarily be the ones who will teach you, but they are there to connect you with those who can assist you or give you information leading you to getting the assistance.

c) Certain things you might assume should come naturally (i.e. mother knowing how to suckle their baby) might not necessarily work that way. Just because you gave birth to the idea doesn’t mean you can fully develop it and implement it all by yourself. It’s been said, “Being independent is a sign of growing up and being interdependent is a sign of maturity.”

d) You need to be humble in order to receive guidance. Pride causes you to think you ‘know it all’ yet this might result in adverse results for your baby (idea, concept, strategy etc). The baby might end up being malnourished and underdeveloped (not reaching maximum potential) just because of pride.

e) For babies to grow as they should, there is a specific way they should be held, fed, nurtured etc. Same goes for your ideas, concept or strategy- if you try to take shortcuts or try reinvent the wheel, you might end up not deriving the most you could have or wasting precious time.