Professor S Maile standing in the middle left of the back row together with the people who came to attend his lecture
The first African Connection lecture of 2013 was presented by Prof Simeon Maile from TUT. The topic he spoke on was Education and the recession: Challenges of affordability among working class parents in South Africa. He spoke on how individual family income is increasingly insufficient to cope with educational needs. Cutbacks in government education subsidies increase the burden on households. Without government support working class families will not be able to educate their children as the cost of educating children has increased tremendously.
In his ideal world we would be living in a society where an equal education can be had by all, whether in a township school or in a Model C school. He argues for the government to spend the same amount on every child, no matter where they might be enrolled for school. Currently the township schools receive more money per child than what is spent on the children at a Model C schools. He did some research into what various professions earn and what people spend their money on. Transport and water and electricity were major costs in working class parent’s spending patterns and most of them are not able to pay the fees charged at a Model C school. If every child receives the same amount from the government, he feels more schools would become an option for parents who wish to give their children schooling in town rather than in a township. Professor Gumbo thanked Prof essor Maile for the insight he gave us into the education situation we currently face with the affordability of good schooling in South Africa.
