Once a year the media turns its attention to education as the matric results announcement offers children a space in the news cycle. The results are a predictable tale of extremes, with middle class and wealthier children scoring high results and the majority of schools (which are no-fee schools) and rural provinces doing poorly. 

We will again be reminded by commentators how half of the million children who started school 12 years ago will have dropped out before reaching matric. 

Fewer than 8,000 learners will earn an A aggregate for mathematics, and even fewer will achieve an A in science, essential subjects in today’s increasingly tech-focused world. 

For learners up to to grade 11 and for 11 months of the year, the media does not focus sufficiently on education. Teachers’ unions may have a voice, but learners do not. 

Herein lies part of the problem. We are a society that does not talk about children, prioritise their needs, or value their education as a key area of national debate. 

Usually, children’s interests are cared for in a family context. It is the parents’ role to meet their physical, social, and emotional needs. But parents can do little when they are let down by a chronically underperforming education system. Years spent at school will not guarantee a child can ever read for meaning. Children and their need to learn to read is a national emergency that needs to be a more defining part of the national conversation. 

“Fees must fall” dominated the news cycle from 2015 to late 2016, leading to a change in how university fees are structured and enabling free education for the privileged few who actually enter university. 

But toddlers do not protest in front of cameras, and the media cannot ethically interview eight- or nine-year-olds about how their teachers perform.  

As a result, our country spends far more time talking about university issues, political factional battles, and the machinations of celebrities than we do about what matters most: securing a better future for millions of young South Africans. 

Only in January does the failing education system get properly scrutinised. 

Sustained public attention to education is essential, as it helps the government choose its priorities. These, when it comes to children, would include how to ensure better teaching, better access to early childhood education and sufficient nutrition, and access to sufficient books and online learning materials throughout school. 

Shrinking newsrooms mean dedicated education reporters are a thing of the past. The Daily Maverick last year advertised for a children’s reporter, but to date only News24 has a dedicated education journalist. This means 13,4 million children at school are represented by a single education reporter. Obscure celebrities attract far more media attention.  

What we need is not a yearly matric results media frenzy but sustained attention on issues in education and what is being done to fix it.  

Children and their educational issues need a voice every month of the year.

– Katharine Child
Account Manager