LETTER: Accountability starts with government, so choose wisely

I refer to Jonny Steinberg’s hugely interesting column on the reasons for union dominance of the basic education system in SA (“Bad education follows on the township exit of the middle classes,” April 21).

I would add that there is already an opportunity for accountability in the system: the government, which has the power to appoint, manage and discipline officials of the department of basic education and sets policy in education, could appoint and manage more effectively. It chooses not to.

Parents, and broader communities, whose children suffer due to an expensive, sub-par service, could choose to discipline the government by voting for another party. Yet at present, and as a whole, support for the party in government tends to be highest in the very communities who rely most on public education.

These voters therefore either vote against their own interest, or they value other interests (which they perceive as being protected by the current government) more highly than education for their children.

Who you vote for, and why, determines your future, your children's prospects and the trajectory of your society. Sadly, education will transform when enough voters internalise that lesson, and not before.

Johan Prins
Via BusinessLIVE

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