South African Education

For months now our country has been riddled by different strikes. Many of them were held just before the Soccer World Cup, threatening to disrupt games in a ploy to get salary increases from the government. None of the threats actually became reality but the country has been seriously hurt by the strikes held this year. One in strike in particular that stands out here is the Teachers Unions who have disrupted classrooms and left schools without education for weeks on end.

One would think that our teachers would be the first to be taken care of since they groom the leaders of this country. But with forty pupils in a classroom and many failing to graduate their matric year because of short staffed schools, it is clear that government is not doing nearly enough to deal with the problems facing our kids today.

Matric final exams are due to start in the next week and there have been many debates about whether students are prepared enough as they were without vital education for over a month. With a system that is already moving in a backward direction, a month with no schooling could devastate the end year matric results.

So what do I care about the schools anyway, my kids are still too young to even consider school, right. Wrong! I have been scouting schools since I was pregnant with L. I am determined to make sure that my kids get the best education and learn about stability at the same time. I have considered Private Schooling, but am not sure if I could realistically afford it. Model C schools and the Public schools in the Northern Suburbs of Johannesburg are also incredibly good too, these I could afford All I need is a school that caters to my kids from Grade 00 Until their Matric years. The other Option I have here is Home Schooling. This is not an ideal option for me as I need to be on my own on a regular basis (not selfishly but creatively ;)) and I truly and honestly don't know if I have the patience for it. I do think it is the best choice if Hubby allows me to have anymore kids. I could save loads of money and spend my time with my kids.



Pictre from www.mydreamcourse.co.za/.../



So with all the information on the table I thought I had made a choice. I want to send the kids to my previous school. I went to a Private Christian school that cost as much as a Model C school. The School offers everything I am looking for and to top it off, I have been there to test it out myself. So there, the choice was made, until I walked past the table in the coffee area at work this morning. There lay the Star Newspaper with this Printed on the front page - "principal Held For Sexual Abuse". I paused for a second and then read the article. I was horrified that the principle of the School in the Northern Suburbs was arrested for 'alledgedly' sexually harassing ( abusing ) 5 students.

Now we have all head of things like this happening to kids all over the world, I mean there are Priests implicated in these kinds of cases. But I would think it was not happening in schools. Now here is my dilemma:  I want to put my kids in a fairly small Christian school. I know the teachers and what the education is like, but do I really know what is going on there. When I used to attend school there, I remember that we were not watched at all times and did "not so Christian like" things after school. I trust my kids though, but can I trust their teachers or the people responsible for them at school. 

After reading the article, Home Schooling seemed like the number one choice here. I mean I know what my kids are doing most of the time and I know for certain that nobody is making them do something inappropriate. So what do I do? Do I trust that my kids will be safe with people I really know nothing about or do I keep them under my thumb?

Another option is allowing the control freak in me to do background checks on all the teachers and making sure I have hidden Camera's in my kids bags, just to make sure Nobody screws with them...mmmmm....this could actually be the best option...lol

What do you think?

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I have a passion.

Ever since I was a young child, I have always considered what I wanted my future to look like. I started singing at the age of three and always thought I was going to be a famous singer. I mean I was going to marry Michael Jackson after all. As I got older I realized that being a singer was not all it seemed to be and then I had my sights set on becoming a Police Officer. I just loved playing with my toy guns, and making my little car's drive after the robbers in a high speed chase. The life just seemed so exiting and I was mesmerised at the adventure it could be.

But life took a turn and I found passion in other areas. I still love to sing and miss it tremendously, but going to choir practice with a 4 year old and a 8 month old all by my myself just did not seem like any fun. With the experiences I have had, there were a few things that I was really good at ( still am ) and that gave me a new sense of purpose in life.

I LOOOOOVE to talk. I talk so much that hubby has learned to shut off and just nod. I talk the most when I am tired, because for some reason the words flow easier and I seem to remember everything I wanted to tell through out the day. Hubby cant stand this about me but as I said, nods when he needs to.
I also found that I love people and helping them with advice or anything they needed when they needed it. For some reason, my advice never worked in my life, but it helped others and that meant a lot to me. This got me thinking one day. What could I do with the rest of my life that incorporates both of these without having anyone to tell me to just *shut up*? I know....Psychology :)

OK, I don't want to be your average shrink who only asks questions. I want to really help people with emotional issues and feel good that someone is doing better because I helped. But the passion does not just lie in any person with a problem, but particularly in young adults. At the age where every wrong choice is justifiable and as doctor Phil would say " those who have not developed enough to understand the consequences of their actions". I feel for our teens these days, they get blamed for everything and anything but nobody ever really looks at their situations. Many of them lack the information to get themselves into better situations and particularly where I live, you are cool if you know how to light a joint.

I just wish our parents were interested in searching for information on how to better raise their kids. I get so frustrated with parents who use the excuse " I am doing the best with what I know ". My simple response is "NO YOU ARE NOT". We live in an age where information is at the fingertips. It is so easy to search for games or facebook or porn on your phone, so why could you not look for tips on helping the kids succeed. There a libraries everywhere that offer the information parents need, and if that does not work, the Bible also offers parenting advice.

So before I get too emotional, lol, I want to really start some workshops for young adults to guide them in the right directions. Workshops not only for the kids, but for parents to come and learn as well. I want every parent to have available resources in their homes, have relationships with their kids and learn how to encourage them to be good citizens. Is that not what a good parent does?

I cant wait to finally have my Psychology Masters Degree ( if my kids allow me ) and get stuck into developing these programmes. That little running man inside me jumps every time I think about every family brought together and hopefully my dream is not very far off :)

I still have a few years to go before I stand on that stage, so for now I will enjoy my other passions - being a mom - a wife - a South African and recently Photography.

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