The United Nations General Assembly (Unga) proclaimed 24 January as International Day of Education, in celebration of the role of education in peace and development. Education is a human right and public responsibility.
Against the backdrop of this important day, we cannot be oblivious to the trapped, multi-layered crises in South Africa, regardless of the investments and commitments made in improving the education system since the 1994 election. These challenges include ineffective school leadership, teaching incompetency, inequality and poverty.
In addition, although education is a basic right in South Africa and beyond, learners face the possibility of dropping out and poor academic performance. This calls for attention to how best school principals can help in turning the tide.
Improving South Africa’s education is key because quality education is regarded as a panacea in overcoming symbolic forms of poverty and inequalities evident amongst the country’s population, as stated in the National Development Plan (NDP).
Scholars argue that educational leadership for transformation and social justice must be grounded in the particular social and historical conditions in which it is practiced. The Social Development Goals Report mentions that South Africa has a documented history of deprivation and exclusion of the majority of its people.
Without any doubt, school principals in public schools encounter bottlenecks in fulfilling their everyday tasks. Such challenges are compounded by the fact that some of the teachers are encouraged to take leadership positions based on positive teaching careers rather than leadership capabilities. Moreover, public school principals assume office without adequate leadership development training. There is a clear need to support the development of school leadership.
Consequently, a programme of Citizen Leader Lab known as Partners for Possibility (PfP) was launched in 2010, to mitigate leadership challenges through their development initiative that had made strides in dealing with various institutions in order to improve education in South African communities. The PfP model utilises a transformative model anchored in facilitating learning partnerships that are mutually beneficial and respectful.
Since inception, the programme has developed and extended its footprint to all nine provinces in the country. Its efforts have not gone unrecognised, having been included in the 2022 Geneva rankings of the world’s Top 500 NGOs and attaining the Champion South Africa Award in 2022.
The programme also won the WISE awards in 2018 making it one of the most innovative programmes in education in the world.
Education is a human right, a public good, and a public responsibility. Education is something we have plenty of, although much of it is unsatisfactory. As part of ensuring the International Day of Education stays meaningful, serve wherever you are planted.
) Dorcas Dube–Londt is of Citizen Leader Lab.
