This morning on a national radio station, the DJ was talking about the state of education in the country.

For those of you who like details, it was Gareth Cliff on 5Fm and Mbale Moloyi having the discussion, and they took some callers views as well.

It turns out that after 10 years of a so-called new curriculum was introduced, students in their first year at university are struggling to keep up with the pace.

I heard this first hand from my sons swimming teacher as well, who’s daughter is a first year university student. This particular girl excelled at high school, with straight A’s etc, and is very very bright. She’s doing okay at university as a result. But in her own words, she said that she can see how the learning in high school did not adequately prepare her for university.  She cited things like teachers allowing kids to use calculators for too many things in maths class etc, and then of course you get to university where for particular courses they are not allowed – and then students are struggling to do basic calculations like what is 9 multiplied by 12 for example.

The whole thing on the radio this morning, kind of freaked me out.

I’ve just paid the deposit for my sons first year of private school education starting next year. (Thank you blogging, that is one thing that *you* have paid for amongst a million others).

Now, because I know we’re still going to be here, for at least a large part of next year, and my son of an age where he can start formal education, when time came to decide where to send him, for me the choice was absolutely clear cut. Private School.

I went to both government run and private schools during my schooling career so I can categorically state that THERE IS NO COMPARISON between the two.

CHALK and CHEESE.

It really makes me angry when I hear parents saying that ‘govt schooling was good enough for them, so it’s good enough for their kids’.  Isn’t the whole point to try and do better for your children than what you had yourself? I mean, surely??? Doesn’t everyone feel like that?? Aside from the fact that government schooling is even worse than it was 20 years ago.

I consider myself lucky to have had a chance to see both sides of the coin, and so incredibly blessed to have had the private schooling that I did.

At the government school we had: (and this was in a govt school with so-called ‘academic excellence’)

A headmaster with a grossly overinflated oppinion of himself, who thought that his sole purpose in life was to strut the halls in his academic gown (not unlike Professor Snape) handing out punishment and interrogating terrified pupils.

A vice headmaster with an insatiable desire to belittle any and all who came before him, and would not cease his verbal onslaught until you were in tears.

I had teachers who taught subjects that they were not qualified to teach. I.e. a history major teaching geography.

I had teachers who thought it was okay to ‘accidentally’ grope you.

The two fantastic teachers that I did have one year, were both head hunted by a nearby boys private school, and left to take up wonderful positions, with decent salaries, and one can hardly blame them for doing so!

At the private school we had:

I had teachers who loved to teach.

I had teachers who really cared.

I had teachers who were really paid what they were worth.

We had incredible sporting, media and theatrical facilities.

We had a headmistress of whom we were terrified, but she inspired us to go beyond ourselves in EVERY SINGLE WAY.

We had heated classrooms. Carpeted classrooms. Classrooms with air-conditioning.

We were moulded, shaped, guided, allowed to breathe, and set free to grow.

My school marks sky-rocketed after just one term at private school.

So suffice it to say, when it comes to my kids education, they are going to get the very best that money can buy.

A school that is not forced to bow to the governments demands that the standards be lowered so that everyone has the right to graduate (hello? Where is the incentive to bother trying if it’s your RIGHT to graduate??), a school that turns its well educated nose up at the national curriculum, and instead chooses to follow an international one, with international standards and examinations.

A school that will give my children a chance.

What are your plans for your kids education?

Do you plan to go ‘local’ ‘private’ or ‘home school’?

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