I have had the privilege and unique opportunity of returning to the secondary school classroom to teach geography after 17 years of teaching in higher education. I taught 77 Grade 10 learners for eight weeks, and am sad to report that, 31 years into democracy, we are still failing our youth.

This year, along with 11 other professors in education across South Africa, I was part of the Professors – Back (to) School (PBS) Project. Headed by Professor Jonathan Jansen of Stellenbosch University, this research project is investigating whether (or not) we are adequately preparing BEd and PGCE graduates for the contemporary classroom.

My career spans 28 years of teaching and learning. Before becoming a lecturer/senior lecturer/associate professor of geography education at two universities in Gauteng, I had taught high school geography for more than 12 years. This time around, I was shocked and horrified at the conditions and experiences in a Quintile 1 township school, about 25 minutes away from the University of Pretoria in Mamelodi.

On my first day, at the start of the second term, I was shown to the classroom where my Grade 10s would be waiting; learners stay in the classroom as there aren’t enough desks and chairs in the school to allow for them to move freely to various classrooms during the school day. Teachers carry their material to different classes throughout the day. On first inspection, only 17 learners of the 77 listed on the class list were seated in the classroom. The subject teacher told me he would walk around the school and find the other 60 learners who were meant to be in geography from 13:30 to 14:30.

I had prepared an informative PowerPoint presentation with videoclips and lovely visuals to introduce the topic of geomorphology to the Grade 10s, assuming I could use the smart TV in the classroom – only to discover that this part of the school has not had electricity for more than four months. Vandals had stolen the electricity cables from outside the school in February. Being a resourceful teacher, armed with whiteboard markers and a duster I had bought the day before, it was time for plan B. Resourceful teachers always have a plan A, Plan B and even a Plan C.

The whiteboard, though, was black – it was not the blackboard from yesteryear that chalk is used on. It was simply filthy from not having been properly cleaned. Making the best of a horrible situation, we soldiered on, and I taught for 45 minutes. The next lesson and the remaining eight weeks were no better.

Over the course of the three lessons in that first week, my class attendance steadily doubled from lesson to lesson, until eventually I had 59 learners in my class by the following Monday morning. As the classroom had no electricity (despite the state-of-the-art smart TV), I carried my own 300W power bank, laptop and data projector, as well as a mobile projection screen to class every lesson. The learners were mesmerised, and loved my presentations and explanations. I asked for their first-term marks and was shocked to learn that the average for the class of 77 learners was a mere 25%. Also, they had not been given their textbooks for the year! I demanded that they be given their textbooks the very next day.

It has been a hard eight weeks, and I am exhausted. I am sorry to say that 31 years into democracy, this state of dilapidation and disrepair seems the norm for the 1 999 learners of a school that is less than 10 years old and designed to accommodate 1 250 learners, who endure these hardships daily. The teachers and management of the school were most helpful and forthcoming, and I feel desperately unhappy for them having to work in these pitiful conditions.

It is an indictment on us as a civil society that many children suffer these indignities (as well as the teachers trying to teach them) at schools such as this one. We need to hold the government, and particularly the Department of Basic Education, accountable to do a better job of providing these schools with the resources and support that they need to be functional schools.

I look forward with anticipation, as I mark my Grade 10s’ June geography exams next week, and hope that I have made a small yet significant contribution to their learning of geography at high school. I still need to engage the parents on their experiences and involvement in their children’s education. 

This has been a remarkable experience, and a real eye-opener for me. Sadly, we are not preparing our teachers of tomorrow for the contemporary classroom. I pray conditions in Quintile 1 schools will improve, and that during future Youth Months, we celebrate and honour youth with a sustainable and relevant schooling experience.