Higher Grade or Hire Grade

It reminds me of what my headmaster did when I was in matric. He scrapped technical subjects at my high school, in order to concentrate more on academics. Art subjects were included though.

I guess he felt South Africa needed more sculptures, painters and historians than engineers. Seeing as we all knew how to use a calculator, he probably thought Maths was a dying subject. WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot!

I am fortunate enough to have been exposed to three different spheres of the education system in South Africa. I started primary school when I was governed and fed Bantu Education while growing up in Greytown.

After moving to the city, I got exposed to "First Class Education" for Non-White Education. If I remember correctly, it was termed the DET system (Coloured and Indian Schooling). Finally, after the birth of democracy, I attended what had been dubbed the "Rolls Royce" of Education in South Africa: a "White School".

Thanks to the evolving political situation in the country at the time and a non-prejudicial and open-minded headmaster (not the one mentioned above), I was able to experience the best of what the country had to offer in 1994 as far as education was concerned.

My school was proud of the fact that it provided pupils with a buffet of education. Learners could excel in either academics, art or sport. Everything was on offer during our high school years from architecture (Technical Drawing), electrical engineering, motor engineering and computer engineering.

For the picky eaters, ie the faithful nerds, they could choose from an array of academic subjects. For the vegetarians, there was butternut soup or what I’d like to call Art and fruit salad also known as Music. There was also plain rye bread in the form of Bible Studies. Calorie watchers opted for steamed asparagus or Typing seasoned with paprika or Home Economics.

For the educationally anorexic, there were Library Studies and Chess.

When I started at this school in 1994, I had to learn very quickly to grasp English, which was not my first language and Afrikaans. These were compulsory and passing them was a must. Out of 800 students or so, less than 400 spoke English as a home language. The rest were divided between Sesotho, Setswana, TshiVenda, IsiNdebele, IsiZulu, Greek, Arabic, Italian, French, Norwegian, Chinese and Afrikaans. There was also a handful of Japanese and Korean pupils.

Aside from Afrikaans, all subjects were taught in English. What you spoke at home, at the bus stop or at your local takeaway joint, had no bearing the required pass percentage in the classroom.

So, as a rural boy at a white school in the city, I ploughed through this unforgiving topography like a hardworking farmer.

I was learning to speak English and Afrikaans properly, for the first time. I had learnt English in black schools previously, however the teachers who taught us the language were themselves not fluent enough. They were merely "recycling" what they knew. So you can imagine how challenging it was for me to learn the language for the first time in high school.

I was now being taught by someone who held a doctorate after years of tertiary education in Industrial English and Business English.

Bantu Education and White Education are solar systems apart.

After switching schools and learning experiences, I was horrified when my report card said I’d failed, not once but twice. Our then, open-minded headmaster encouraged me to repeat the grades with pride. After failing the first year, I remember him saying to me, "You have no pressure now. You have done this before. Just focus on the things you didn't understand and you'll be just fine."

So I did exactly that. Besides, there were some benefits. For example, I could never be on detention for being late for school or for being absent. After all, I did the work last year, didn't I?

In all honesty, as embarrassing as it was to see my peers one grade ahead of me, repeating a year certainly helped me get better acquainted with the new languages I was learning. I learnt to speak English quite well and was able to hold a conversation in Afrikaans, now my third language.

However, this isn’t about my life story, it's about the scholars who’re no longer going to benefit from those "bonus percentage points". The initial concept to me is insane on a higher grade level, a level I never passed at school. That’s not the point though. To compensate pupils simply because they speak a different language at home, is no different than spitting on their exam papers.

Let them struggle! They'll learn better! Equip them with skills and resources and not ‘a cultural/language e-toll free pass.’ Yes, some will fail! I did! Yes, it's horrible. I know! They'll live though! All they need to do is believe in themselves and pluck up the courage to do it again. One of the most important things I took away from high school is that I actually could never fail a class...I could only delay my passing to the next grade.