The shocking levels of poverty in SA represent a ticking time bomb which screams for urgent intervention to defuse the threat of a catastrophe. According to recent reports, at least 199 children under the age of five years died of malnutrition in the first two months of the year.
The full brunt of the tragedy is borne by KZN with 50 deaths, followed by the Eastern Cape with 32 deaths. Gauteng and Mpumalanga account for 29 deaths each with the rest of provinces accounting for 88 deaths.
In Matikwe, north of Durban, it was reported that sand had become a meal for starving children. Experts predict that the situation is likely to get worse as the combined effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, the July unrest and the floods take their toll, especially on KZN.
The expected rise in interest rates in an effort to curb inflation and the ramifications of the war in Ukraine are also expected to exacerbate the looming calamity. SA has 19.6m children who make up about 35% of the population of 56.5m people.
While access to education has been greatly improved since 1994, this has sadly not translated into the provision of quality education. Poor quality education has in turn undermined efforts to eradicate poverty. Some of the manifestations of such poor quality include reports that after five years of attendance, only 50% of pupils can do basic arithmetic.
There are also low levels of teacher accountability owing mainly to the influence of anarchic teacher union Sadtu (SA Democratic Teachers Union), which has captured education in six of the country’s provinces. Reports show that about 10% of teachers across the country are absent from school on any given day and 79% of grade 6 maths teachers do not have the content knowledge to be teaching at their respective levels. In rural areas, 81% of children live in abject poverty where critical resources such as water, electricity, books and technology were missing from many schools, serving as barriers to a complete educational experience.
According to the department of education statistics, out of 23,471 public schools, 18,019 have no library while 16,897 have no internet. Some children have to walk for more than 30 minutes or an hour to school which presents challenges that impede pupil’s attainment. Such low attainment becomes the leading cause of school dropout and a principal driver of unemployment among the youth. Pupils are pressured to work and provide for their households or to augment the family income.
Without a basic education, pupils struggle to get employment and cannot escape poverty as a result. Against this backdrop, children’s resilience and development is undermined by chronic conditions of malnutrition and food insecurity which result in stunting.
Food insecurity is partially addressed through the national schools nutrition project (NSNP) which provides daily meals to the poorest schools in SA, currently reaching 75% of children attending primary and secondary schools. Such efforts are commendable as these meals can encourage school enrolment, increase attendance levels, alleviate short-term hunger and improve concentration and academic performance.
Poverty threatens education, but education can also help end poverty. The cycle of poverty can be broken when individuals are equipped to lead full lives, understand the world and ultimately gain the self-confidence to make themselves heard. It is for this reason education is referred to as the greatest equaliser because it opens doors to jobs and other resources and skills that families need to not only survive, but thrive.
To this end, the state should strive to train and employ more teachers with the focus on the delivery of quality education. This will result in small class sizes and improved teacher morale which is a critical element in the improvement of education outcomes. Increasing the quality of education will result in a growing economy, lower income inequalities and decrease the risk of disease and violence.
As Aristotle noted, “Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime.” Mervyn Abrahams, who is the programme coordinator at the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity Group, which compiles a monthly household affordability index report, remarks: “It is a major indictment on our social and economic system that children are either stunted or dying.” Indeed it is and time is not our side to improve the quality of education to turn the tide on the scourge of poverty.
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