Children from poor households will suffer the effects of lockdown and Covid-19 for many years to come.
According to the latest editorial piece for Business Day, “pupils lost an estimated 155 school days in 2020 and 2021, roughly three-quarters of a school year.”
South Africa’s educational system already struggled to “deliver the basics even before Covid-19 struck.” According to Business Day, “barely one in five children could read for meaning by the end of grade 4, only 42% of the children who were in grade 2 in 2009 passed matric a decade later, and SA ranked near the bottom of international tests for maths and language.”
The most recent study by the University of Stellenbosch paints a bleak picture of the impact of the epidemic on learning. “Using data from the Western Cape’s systemic tests of maths and language skills in 2019 and 2021, the Research on Socioeconomic Policy group at Stellenbosch University found that learners in grades 3, 6 and 9 were on average a year behind where they should be.”
Mathematical achievement plummeted across all grades. The decline in language skills has consequences for future learning. Children who can’t read for meaning can’t handle curriculum “based on skill”.
In a separate piece for Times Live, residents in Johannesburg are taking matters into their own hands to overcome load shedding. Johannesburg mayor Mpho Phalatse said South Africans had installed 200MW of solar panels. According to Times Live, over 30,000 homes installed solar power as they no longer trust Eskom to deliver steady power. It’s a drop in the ocean for SA’s 17.4 million homes, but it will rise as we explore independent power projects.
Here’s a roundup of interesting opinions, analyses, and editorials:
School catch-up programmes are urgently needed – Business Day (for subscribers)
If Joburg doesn’t power green soon it will go from economic hub to dud– Business Day (for subscribers)
Twenty years of the African Union: Lessons on African renaissance – News24
‘We’re heading in for a strike’: Expert on public sector wage negotiations – News24 (for subscribers)
Racism – the final frontier – News24
ANC has looked into the mirror — will it tend to the ugly picture? – Business Live
Outsiders could steal the ANC race – Financial Mail (for subscribers)
With the global political economy on edge can the state hold together? – Business Live
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