SA education system takes center stage at equal education congress

The country's education system came under scrutiny at the first Equal Education Congress held in Tembisa. Addressing the Congress, Cosatu's General Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said 18 years into democracy the country's education, despite its huge budget, still produced poor results.

Vavi also called for the investigation into the scandalous book saga that took place in Limpopo.

The Equal Education Congress was formed in 2008 to look into equal education as envisaged by the Freedom Charter. It includes staff, post school youth, parents and teachers amongst others. In his address, Vavi lambasted the country's education system saying it was pathetic.

Vavi did not hold back saying: “ Now  that everybody is talking about first phase , one of the things that will happen is for us to investigate why so much money was spent on education and yet the results are so poor.”

Regarding the text book fiasco in Limpopo, Vavi says the buck stops with the Minister, the Premier and the President himself.

Vavi said Equal Education was a breath of fresh air and called on them not to relent on corruption.

The Archbishop of Cape Town, Thabo Mokgoba told Equal Education to focus on their vision and not to be disheartened by the problems they face.

The four day congress is expected to debate challenges facing youth locally and globally and will critically examine the education system as key to overcoming these challenges.

Source: SABC News