Katherine on schools in the townships

Today, as part of my internship, I got to visit a few schools in the Mitchells Plain district. Unlike the schools I’ve visited up until this point (which have cleaner facilities and a more dedicated body of students), the schools in this district were definitely lacking in every aspect possible. For most schools, the story was the same: the parking lot of the school, in which all the faculty and staff parked, was comprised of approximately twenty car spaces.  Most of the time, there were empty spaces in these lots. It was a shock to me to see just how understaffed these schools really are. In one instance, the 9^th grade class consisted of ten classes with 50 learners in each class. However, with absentee rates, there are approximately 40 learners on any given day. On top of the high absent rates, many students were walking into these schools an hour, an hour and a half late. When we got to talking with one of the vice presidents at one of the high schools we visited, he began telling us that their most recent principal had just been fired, and they were in the process of searching for another. However, when he was telling us about the candidates, he mentioned the fact that there’s a lot of corruption involved in who gets chosen, and that he doesn’t make enough money to try to extend his role. These comments absolutely shocked me. A teacher’s primary focus should be on their students, not their paycheck. It made me wonder how these children can even have a chance at success in school. For the most part, these students come from households in the townships, where their home environment alone is enough to deter them from wanting to go to school. On top of that, these students have to come to these schools were negative attitudes of the staff can be easily rubbed off on them. It made me really sad for these children. Sad because I know that there are facilities such as Christel House where students are almost guaranteed a college education. And yet, because of the role money plays in our lives, we can’t afford to give those amenities to all children. Therefore, these students may never come to know their full potential, and that is the worst shame of all.