Faerie
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« Reply #30 on: April 10, 2012, 07:53:48 AM » |
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So what exactly do you mean by "illiterate?" And I would be interested to see your source of "record numbers". There could be record numbers of learners failing, which is still amazing considering the 30% pass rate, but I think illiterate and innumerate is inaccurate. I mean functionally illiterate and innumerate. Yes, many of these kids can read. Give them a newspaper article to read, and they can read it. Ask them questions about the contents of the article, half of which they have to answer verbally and the other half in writing, and you will soon see what I mean. Then ask them to do some simple calculations like 32.3 x 54.2, or 53463/23, or 1/2 + 1/4 without a calculator, and you'll see that they have not mastered elementary math either. Let them do those calculations WITH a calculator, and they still get half of them wrong, or they don't know how to even start because they don't know how to turn a fraction into a decimal with a calculator. I've experienced this personally, we take in leaners straight from matric every year, and I insist on a hand written essay before I even bother to meet them for an interview. The spelling is horrific in most cases, and many of them tend to write with a mixture of script and caps and of-course many of them write in abbreviations. Its scary. It doesnt end there though, I've had kids texting their buddies during the interview, kids that flop onto their backends and greet you with a "howzit" and dont get up when you greet them. Its not just the book knowledge going to the dogs, but the general upbringing and lack of social skills and manners are really a concern. And please note, these are the kids from the model C schools I'm referring too. Most the kids I do select for my branch of the program comes from rural areas, they tend to have better manners and a willingness (no, make that an eagerness) to learn. |
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BoogieMonster
NP complete
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« Reply #31 on: April 10, 2012, 10:19:47 AM » |
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I suspect it's due to all this coddling that's taken place due to OBE. These kids all think they're frikin' geniuses because they've all been told they're special and can do no wrong for their entire schooling career. It sickens me.
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Tweefo
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« Reply #32 on: April 10, 2012, 13:52:43 PM » |
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I mean functionally illiterate and innumerate. Yes, many of these kids can read. Give them a newspaper article to read, and they can read it. Ask them questions about the contents of the article, half of which they have to answer verbally and the other half in writing, and you will soon see what I mean. Then ask them to do some simple calculations like 32.3 x 54.2, or 53463/23, or 1/2 + 1/4 without a calculator, and you'll see that they have not mastered elementary math either. Let them do those calculations WITH a calculator, and they still get half of them wrong, or they don't know how to even start because they don't know how to turn a fraction into a decimal with a calculator. I've experienced this personally, we take in leaners straight from matric every year, and I insist on a hand written essay before I even bother to meet them for an interview. The spelling is horrific in most cases, and many of them tend to write with a mixture of script and caps and of-course many of them write in abbreviations. Its scary. It doesnt end there though, I've had kids texting their buddies during the interview, kids that flop onto their backends and greet you with a "howzit" and dont get up when you greet them. Its not just the book knowledge going to the dogs, but the general upbringing and lack of social skills and manners are really a concern. And please note, these are the kids from the model C schools I'm referring too. Most the kids I do select for my branch of the program comes from rural areas, they tend to have better manners and a willingness (no, make that an eagerness) to learn. [/quote] I've posted this quote on this forum before, but here it is again. "The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers."
Socrates
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Brian
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I think therefor I am, I think
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« Reply #33 on: April 10, 2012, 14:55:09 PM » |
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we take in leaners straight from matric every year Indeed leaners they've become!  |
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Faerie
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« Reply #34 on: April 10, 2012, 16:02:42 PM » |
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we take in leaners straight from matric every year Indeed leaners they've become! oh-gods....   |
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brianvds
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« Reply #35 on: April 10, 2012, 18:24:36 PM » |
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I've experienced this personally, we take in leaners straight from matric every year, and I insist on a hand written essay before I even bother to meet them for an interview. The spelling is horrific in most cases, and many of them tend to write with a mixture of script and caps and of-course many of them write in abbreviations. Its scary. It doesnt end there though, I've had kids texting their buddies during the interview, kids that flop onto their backends and greet you with a "howzit" and dont get up when you greet them. Its not just the book knowledge going to the dogs, but the general upbringing and lack of social skills and manners are really a concern. And please note, these are the kids from the model C schools I'm referring too. Most the kids I do select for my branch of the program comes from rural areas, they tend to have better manners and a willingness (no, make that an eagerness) to learn.
Looks like I overestimated Model C schools. I have noticed that kids from the rural areas, where there are often still traditional family and tribal structures, often have way better manners and work ethic. Well, take your revenge on all those unmannered slackers by simply not appointing them. ;-) |
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beLIEf
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« Reply #36 on: April 10, 2012, 20:11:00 PM » |
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And please note, these are the kids from the model C schools I'm referring too. Most the kids I do select for my branch of the program comes from rural areas, they tend to have better manners and a willingness (no, make that an eagerness) to learn. I would agree. I teach a lot of refugee children from DRC, Angola and Rwanda and they are the sweetest, most polite and hard-working learners you could ever wish to teach. Plus some of them speak more than 5 languages aged just 15. Some of their life stories are heart-wrenching but they turn up at school ready to learn no matter what is going on at home, while many others from more privileged backgrounds act like they are doing me a favour just by showing up! |
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GCG
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« Reply #37 on: April 12, 2012, 16:46:43 PM » |
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brianvds
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« Reply #39 on: April 12, 2012, 18:48:09 PM » |
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No man! the dino's were placed there to confuse us hominids...this seriously is an argument I had to listen to.  The notion that fossils were put there by God to test our faith, or by the devil to lead us astray, is not all that uncommon among funides, as is the idea that they are all fakes. Yup, every last one of them. |
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cyghost
Skeptically yours
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Carpe diem
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« Reply #40 on: April 13, 2012, 07:17:55 AM » |
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Well if you manage to believe in a skydaddy that loves you and coddles you and wants you to suck his Cosmic Cock every day of your life, you can probably end up believing any shit whatsoever....
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