Time for new education proposition

In my previous blog posting below I made a case in favour of the South African government devising an education strategy with a strong focus on the hard sciences. However, the real challenge facing the Ministers of Basic and Higher Education is one of preparing South Africa for the rise of the Knowledge Economy. Much has been written about the knowledge economy and what it represents and at the basic level, this is the economy where the “raw materials” used to generate wealth are information and technology. The economies of most developed countries are knowledge-driven characterised by a high degree of innovation as well as the use of technology as a way to enhance production and services delivery. Take a moment to reflect on the products and services you consumer or use on a daily basis and chances are these are most likely to originate from a developing country such as the USA, Japan, South Korea or some European country. These are countries that have invested a great deal in the education of their citizens because it is only through education that knowledge can be gained. In order to generate sufficient levels of knowledge to make South Africa compete on the international stage with regards innovation and technological advancement, South Africa must have a clear education proposition. Some of the elements which must be taken into consideration regarding this education proposition relate to how the education system is financed and the degree of access to such education by the average citizen. My opinion is that all children up to matric primary school ought to have free access to education. From secondary up to tertiary levels, students who achieve a pre-determined standard of results in terms of academic performance ought to receive free education. However access to education is only part of the education strategy picture, the three other key elements to consider are 1) the quality of teachers; 2) the quality of the syllabus, including the accessories needed to deliver the syllabus and 3) the quality of infrastructure, the bricks and mortar. This strategy would no doubt increase government’s education expenditure but it will no doubt contribute towards creating a more knowledgeable society. To this end government would need to find other ways to finance education, this could be through diverting some of the funds from the national lottery towards the Basic and Higher Education Ministries, as well as some form of a tax. Perhaps instead of creating a completely new tax to fund the new education proposition budget, government could indeed divert funds from an existing tax towards this purposes. Another more obvious option but perhaps not so easy to achieve is to reduce the budget allocation of one department or more and increase the overall budget of the two education departments. If South Africa is to become globally competitive, we need an overhaul of the education system because what we have now will simply not cut it.