South African Schools

Well today was my first solo teaching experience, so I think it is fitting to give a some insight into life in South African schools. I think the best way to describe my experience sa far is by saying that it is shocking. Every aspect of it has been shocking and basically heartbreaking. It is pretty obvious the extent to which the aparthied era has touched the black South African schools. So far I have been able to spend quality time in both a primary and secondary setting. To be honest there isn't much difference in them, in the states I'm pretty sure both schools would be condemed.

So first off every buliting in rural South Africa has burgular bars on all of the doors and windows. Schools mainly consist of four or five long cement bulidings with some sheltered walkways but mainly just dirt paths between them. Upon entering the gated school grounds that are surrounded by barbed wire you feel like you are entering a prison yard. I would say 90% of the windows and doors are broken in each classroom, and combining that with the iron burgular bars its not a very welcoming place. Once inside the classroom things just get worse. Learners (they dont use the word students in SA) sit at old wooden desks that are big enough for two people. There are so many of these desks crammed into such a small place that there are no longer isles between the desks. The only way for learners to get to their desks is by climbing over those in front of them. The majority of the classrooms have few decorations, and the ones that do are so old they are falling off the walls and are missing pieces. There are also no shelves or storage areas so things are just stacked in random places throughout the rooms. Its really disheartening walking into these rooms. It makes you realize how good we had it in America. I remember getting ready for a new year at school and would always be sooo excited about going to OfficeMax to buy school supplies. I never thought twice about throwing in two packs of penciles because it was only $1 for a pack of 20. Here students are using pencils that are smaller than their pinky because they cant afford to by a new one. The majority of school supplies within the class are shared. If one learner is lucky enough to have half a broken ruler another is the only one who has a pencil sharpener, so they all share. I've never seen a group of young kids so willing to let another person borrow their things, but it makes me realize that when everyone around you has nothing you have to rely on eachother to do anything.

Aside from the heartbreaking conditions that these learners have to get through everyday, the South African school system makes it extremely hard for black students to be successful. The school system is broken down into four phases. Phase 1 is the foundation phase which makes up grade R (kindergarden) to grade 3. This phase is taught almost completely in their home language. Monday to Thursday they have 30 minutes of English, that is usually taught in their home language because the teachers dont speak English, and then the rest of their subjects are in the different home languages. The foundation phase is also where learners are taught how to behave in the classroom. Although it is illigal here in South Africa corpral punishment is a huge part of the disapline structure. We have seen teachers walking around with sticks, belts, and rulers that are meant to keep learners in line. We have also seen kids have to kneel for hours on cement floors without moving. The schools that we are working in right now for training have been told by different personel that they need to not beat the children in front of Peace Corps volunteers, but that hasn't even detered some teachers and staff members. Growing up in a society where you never hit a child it is heartbreaking seeing the amount of fear learners hold for teachers. Aside from corporal punishment, students are taught to never make eye contact with teachers, it is seen as a very rude gesture. So when a teacher is in front of the room talking children are looking anywhere but the front of the room, which to me makes it really hard to copy what the teacher is writing on the board. Learners are also taught not to ask questions, ever. Admitting you don't understand means that you were either not paying attention to the teacher, or that the learner is saying the teacher didn't do a good enough job explaining the content. Either of these options are not ok, so learners always answer yes to the question do you understand.

Once you move to grade 4 you enter phase 2 which is the intermediate phase. Learners go from basically no English at all to having 5 subjects taught completely in English. All of the sudden learners are doing math and science 100% in English. It's basically the equivalent of me all of the sudden trying to learn philosophy in Zulu. It's not going to happen. In 6th grade, which is the last grade of the intermediate phase, learners are on average only reading at a 2nd grade level. My host sister who is in 4th grade cant tell me what 1 divided by 2 is because she doesnt understand the English, and because her teachers that are teaching only in English also cant speak English. Grades 7-9 are in the senior phase, which is basically equivalent to the intermediate phase, but the learners just to 9 subjects taught only in English. The final phase is the FET phase which is grades 10-12. At the end of grade 12 learners have to pass the national exam called the Metric, and it is completely in English. Out of 100 students going into grade 1 only 36 will even make it to grade 12, and only 22 will pass the final exam in rural areas. Only 22% of black rural students will graduate high school, and only 1% will go onto university.

It's a pretty hard situation to come into, but what is amazing is that even in a classroom where 40 to 60 learners are literally stacked on top of eachother, most of them really want to learn. This is especially true when we stand in front of the classroom. If your class isnt behaving they will quite down in a heartbeat if they think you will leave, but my teaching experiences so far are a story for another day. I will let the conditions that I am teaching in settle in for a day and tomorrow I will let everyone know how my first experiences teaching ever have gone.