Thursday, October 04, 2012

The school debate 1- my schooling background

I haven't even written the post and I know there's going to be more than one part :)

This is a topic I've wanted to talk about on the blog for a long, LONG time.

Homeschooling vs public school (government school is what we call it in SA) vs private school.

Or maybe not versus. We'll see.



But first I want to write about my schooling. Because it very obviously influences my feelings and decisions.

I'm also going to use terms like white, black and coloured on my blog. While I don't see people based on skin colour (hello, I'm in a mixed marriage!), the fact of the matter is this is South Africa and especially pre-1994, colour was how we were defined.

I know lots of people think that all those issues are a thing of the past... it's not. It's a lot more prevalent in certain parts of the country though.

Anyway, back to my story.

I'm a coloured girl from the eastern cape and so of course I went to government primary and high schools in my community.

At that point in SA, that was the thing to do. You went to the nearest school to your house or maybe one a few minutes further.

My primary school was less than a 5-minute walk from my house and my high school was a 10-minute walk or a 7-minute run if I was late. There were 3 schools within that radius. I went to the furthest because it was the best of the 3.


Coloured people did not go to "white" schools (I'm soooo apolitical but I think we weren't allowed to? Someone tell me...). In my standard 9 or matric year, we had two black girls join our school. This was huge. We just didn't have any contact with other race groups. By the way, I happened to become very close friends with the one girl.

Anyway, since I didn't know there was anything different out there, that was my life.

I was top of the standard (8 classes per grade of about 30 kids) for three of my high school years and second for the other two years. Interestingly enough, the guy who was first those two years (and second the other years) and I ended up working at the same company early on in my career. We both ended up in financial services! Here! In Jhb! 11 hours away from our city. Don't you find that freaky? I did - I could NOT believe it was him!!!

I didn't know if I lacked anything educationally because it just wasn't an option.

Let me also add that even if the racial thing didn't exist, there was no way my parents would have been able to afford a white school anyway. We grew up with very little. Again, I knew others had more but I was on about the 60th - 70th percentile of everyone around me financially so it was all very normal.

One day I should tell you the degrees of coloured as explained to me by a coloured guy at work. It is HILARIOUS and true!

 

So then I decided to go to Rhodes University.

My marks were very good. Good enough to get one of the few bursaries for science at that point (it may have changed since but in those days there were about 3 corporates offering just a few bursuries for science).

A lot of the kids who matriculated with me weren't able to afford university tuition. I think there were two of us who went to Rhodes, (one hour away) one or two to UCT (about 8 hours away?), a good bunch to UPE and Vista (local universities) nd then some went to PE Tech and a lot (more than half) just couldn't afford any tertiary education.

At the time I was very self-centred as only a 17-year-old can be so I didn't even care about anyone else's career goals or dreams. I'm a lot different now.

So when I got to Rhodes the wheels fell off.

Suddenly instead of being number 1 or 2 out of 250 kids, I was surrounded by very clever kids from all over the country, and a lot of them were SUPER clever.

I had a lot of adjusting to do (I think I'm still getting used to not always being the clever one :)) realising that I wasn't that clever after all!

I won't bore you with a step-by-step walk through my life but the point of all that was to say this -

Even though I went to a coloured school I still ended up in a good space in life.

I've worked hard at my jobs and while I'm not where I thought I would be (topic for another post) - you know, CEO  :) - I've done well. Certainly very well for a coloured girl from the community I grew up in! This is both as a result of God's grace on my life but also a few other factors

Then there are other people who have had all the privileges in life - good schools, private schools, who have not done as well.

By the way, by well, I don't necessarily mean financially. I mean making good life decisions, etc.

At a previous company they accessed some research that said the factor that creates success in life was not only education. Please note I'm not saying education is not important - it is. Things like drive, tenacity, commitment, determination, good interpersonal skills, resilience those sorts of things that I do have - are the real factors of success.



Interestingly enough, there is another girl from my high school class who is doing verrrry well here in Jhb and yet she was very average at school. I was 1st and she was about 18 out of that class of 32. But she is a real go-getter, has excellent people skills, etc.

I'm sure you also know people like this?

And then I also know people at work who went to really expensive good schools in Jhb who are not all that awesome in the workplace. They're average workers.

Of course there are people on the other end of the spectrum too.

This is just the background but informs why I don't think going to the fanciest, most expensive school predicts absolutely anything in life.

I really believe it's those other things.

So, tell me about your story. What was your schooling background like? Any other people who had school backgrounds similar to mine?

PS You're very welcome to ask me anything in the comments - I won't take offence.

13 comments:

  1. I attended a catholic primary school which was in the coloured area where I stayed and then I went on to a Model C school in Standard 6 where I matriculated. Also got a bit of a shock in high school because I was coming first in all the primary school grades and in high school I was just average because of all the other clever people. I honestly don't think that the school that you are at determines where you will end up in life but I DO think that it can give you an edge. Also, coloured schools were VERY different when I was there. Yes, it was during the Apartheid era BUT you also had a very different type of child and VERY little TV and other media influences. My Mom often says that it was a pleasure to teach in the 70s and 80s. Not because they were working with less than what the priviledged schools were working with, but because the TYPE of kid in your class and the TYPE of parent that you had was VERY different to the TYPE of kid that comes to school today and the TYPE of parent that the average kid has today. Many of the parents that she encounters became parents when they were teenagers and it shows - they often have A LOT of growing up to do and feel the need to be a "friend" to their kids. I personally would not send my kids to a coloured school - the ones that we have in Cape Town are NOT very good at all.Less opportunities (still) and way too much substance abuse issues - mind you, this happens everywhere but it is just so in your face in the coloured schools in CT. If money was not an issue and if they didn't have VERY specific needs then I would most certainly send them to a private school.

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  2. Actually, scrap that. If money was not an issue then I would home school my kids. There is not a school on the planet that is perfect for them. The fact that I really HATED school could possibly also be clouding my judgement here. There are maybe 2 EXCELLENT coloured high schools in Cape Town. Livingstone Secondary and South Peninsula High School. I WOULD maybe send my kids to one of those.

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  3. I was in what was one of Pretoria's best Model C shcools which were very good, but in all honesty the private ones were better. But it was what was the closest school and we could afford. My dad set aside money in his will dor me to study close to home, but not enough for hostel fees etc so I was very delighted when accepted at Tuks - architecture selsction is done very different from general with creativity tests, interviews, personality profiling etc. Very different. I also had the chance from standard 5 to 10 to attend the extra mural school for gifted children two afternoons a week and I must say that it certainly added some binusses to my life. amongst that the independant work ethic. Nothing was spoon fed there - making studying at univeristy much easier.

    Funny enough, some of our top students in matric did nto make it anywhere, while others did become the actuaries and doctors they wanted too while one even became a professor in micro electronica! Our most succesful martic? Difficult to say but one of the rather avarege girls is now one of Telkom's grootkoppe.

    I do feel that pure simple "guts and go getting spirit" as well as a good dash of EQ is possibly the most important work place items to have. And the iwll to learn - that I have seen time after time with the students we have every year. If they have the urge to learn, they will - and a lot too.

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  4. Pardon the spelling mistakes! Doing this on the run .

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  5. I came from PE too, schooling similar to yours, graduated from Vista. Was always one of the top 3 during my school journey and am doing great career wise compared to the rest of the kids I went to school with.

    I think hard work and the will to want to be better is what causes one to achieve. If you want it badly enough you will get it.

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  6. Lesley2:40 pm

    Marcia, this was so interesting to read and really well thought out and written, thank you. I liked the fact that you clarified your definition of 'do well' as 'making good life decisions' and not just making money. Very much looking forward to your thoughts on homeschooling as i have had a little experience doing this with my eldest daughter.

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  7. I cannot wait to read this series, maybe finalize a few of my drafts. You know I'm teetering on this fence.
    I agree whole heartedly that life is what you make of it. Your disposition and character will take you farther than any piece of paper.
    As for me, it sounds like you and I have very similar school background. Well, aside from the countries and segregation bit. Seeing the public schools as they are now, and my behind the scenes view with my husband as a teacher, made me steer away from the path I had chosen. Having made that decision for myself, I am not comfortable sending my children to public school. However to send them to a private school, I'd have to go back to work, working as a teacher in the system that isn't good enough for my kids!

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  8. LOVE this discussion. It is so interesting to hear your background and all the variables that go along with it. I also enjoy an honest, frank description on the race issues.

    This statement-- "I know lots of people think that all those issues are a thing of the past... it's not."--could also SO easily apply to life here in the southern U.S. We deal with different issues, of course, but it's still very present in some aspects of daily life.

    In our area, most everyone goes to public school. There are a few private schools around and homeschooling is more prevalent than ever before, but still...most are in public school. We are very fortunate to have some pretty great public schools here in our town. (I say "schools", but really, there are 3 elementary that feed to one jr. high and high school.) It's just been a given for us that if we live here, the girls will go to the same schools I did and we're happy with that. Should we move back to the slightly bigger city, public school would still be a good option...we would just choose where we lived based on the school district for the neighborhood.

    Again, I'm so interested and I can't wait to read more on this subject!

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  9. One of the things I love about reading your blog is just learning how life is in JHB.

    Almost everyone here goes to public schools. I went to both a public schools and a private Christian school for a few years in high school.

    I was average. I had to work hard for good grades and somewhere in middle school boys and friends took an overwhelming precidence over education. Hence, my parents plopped me in private school for a while.

    I worked retail for several years after high school. I volunteered at an elementary school and fell in love with it. I was a teaching assistant for a while, and during that time I first went to community college for a 2 year basic general studies degree, and then transferred over to a pretty prestigious university. And it was only then that I realized that I can be all sorts of academic! I LOVED my university. I worked hard and I loved studying education, and I thrived. I graduated with honors. I worked like hell to do everything that I needed to do to get my teacher's certification - because I desperately wanted to teach.

    I've taught in both private and public schools and can see advantages and disadvantages to both.

    I'll be looking forward to hearing your part two. :)

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  10. Such a lovely post. Learning more about SA from people who lived through the system and 'a not so glorious past'

    Some similarities on the realisation that you are not always the best academic wise, this first happened to me when I went to high school. I was that child that would cry for days non-stop if I made one mistake on a spelling or maths test in primary school. But the first year of high school I battled big time and my grades showed but by the 3rd year of high school I was back where I belonged at the top and it was this way until I finished law school more than a decade later (I was in school for a very long time, all because I wanted to be a lawyer). I refused to settle for anything less than being the top and that meant I was not in enough social activities.

    Going to a public school was not an option for primary school for us (and is still not for many kids back home), if you think the state of govt schools are bad in SA, you should see what people have to deal with back home in those schools. My dad always had one saying: the only legacy I would give all my children is education, so even if it means we don't wear the best clothes or shoes, you'll go to the best schools.

    We didn't have to deal with any race issues so made a lot easier, if you can afford a school you would get in otherwise you look for a cheaper school.

    Education is important but I think upbringing, motivation and hard work plus knowing when a good opportunity is there for the taking complete the mix of what it takes to make it 'big time'



    Can't wait for part two :)

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  11. LOL where is the school debate? Schooling is one of the most spoken about things in our house at the moment - it is making me want to move to the bundus and teach my kids how to bake bread and live off the land!

    My story is similar to yours except I was white :) Local primary, local high school - I was average - in the C class and sort of near the top of that class. I hated school. When I went to tech - I graduated top of my class for all 3 years :)

    A lot of the girls who were in the A class and over acheivers at school are all Stay at home moms now - not that that isn't noble or easy or whatever - just not what was expected of them you know!

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  12. We moved a lot until I went to grade 1, it was always my parents goal to settle down when we started school because moving can be very disruptive. From when i was born till I started school we moved 15 times...and never again. I agree with that point of view. If at all possible I would not move Nicola from one school to another, and I actually have already selected which primary school I intend sending her to. It's the exact same one I went to, and it's a normal public school - in a good area less than 5km away from us. So when i start looking at buying a house that's the area I would focus on.

    I went to a normal public primary school. It was white. There was not one single other colour present throughout my 7 years there (there are now obviously, after 1994). I didn't even think about it, except that being quite tanned/oliveskinned/whatever myself I was the darkest person in the area and on more than one occasion got teased for either being coloured or indian or portugeuse or whatever.

    I went to a boarding school high school, also public and in the last two years there we saw the first changes come through colour wise. In 1995 we had one coloured girl in the entire school, and in 1996 I believe there were 2 black children too.

    I ran away from home and did matric on my own in 1996 at a different school. The wheels of change were considerably swifter there. Roughly half the school was either coloured or black and it was quite an adjustment for me just to see it.

    I didn't go to university straight after school because I couldn't decide what to do but a few years later I did 3/4 of my LLB through Unisa before I fell out of love with the direction.

    Much more than going to school with other coloured children what made a big impression on me was when I started working and got exposed to people of other religions. It never even occured to me before that that not everybody out there was a Christian. I was fascinated and could often be found interrogating people about what they believed in and how that related to their clothes and eating habits. No one took offence or tried to convert me, they just patiently explained their views to me and I explained mine. It was all rather nice and grown-up I guess.

    I agree with you about the schooling, and that it doesn't necessarily dictate what the future will hold. I will at all times just aim at making sure that Nicola gets the care and education she needs, and she needs to bring the aspiration bit herself. I know opinions and circumstances differ, but I honestly do not believe that private school is the best way to prepare your child for a realistic future in any country.

    There is one thing that I vow though. No child of mine will get through 12 years of school without being able to read and write properly or be unable to do basic maths! That is completely unacceptable to me.

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  13. I went to public school, was in the top 10% of my graduating class, got into every college I applied to. It always came easy to me- but in college I got side tracked by boys and the freedom of not living at home, and often ditched classes. Then I got pregnant with Ethan, and never looked back.

    I thought I wanted to teach art in an elementary school back then, but now... I have o desire to work with other people's kids LOL

    I'm rather content being a stay at home mom. It's totally not how I pictured my life, but I wouldn't trade it, empty bank account and all :)

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