“Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.”- Nelson Mandela

The quality of education is key to the production of great human capital and it should never be compromised by governments not focusing on developing the education that is offered in both public and private schools. According to the Basic Education Department of South Africa, there are approximately 10 000 unqualified and under-qualified teachers who are on their payroll. This number is astounding and parents who can afford it are opting for online learning for their children.

In Johannesburg a whopping 7 000 teachers only have a grade 12 qualification, the numbers are even worse in rural parts of South Africa. Untrained teachers combined with the lack of basic tools and facilities for learning, make the odds really low for children seeking education. And that’s why parents are using an online learning portal to teach their children; there are many benefits to this sort of learning.

Online learning can teach students a variety of courses and has online learning guides and tests to make sure that before they move onto the next step, they understand the previous work. It also caters for students who are not able to learn at a fast pace and would fall behind in a classroom setting. With online learning, they can learn at a pace that works best for them without feeling pressured. An online learning portal is able to store information that hardly any human can, and has little to no error when teaching. This will put many of online learners above their peers who only learn in the classroom.

A number of students in South Africa are being taught by teachers who are not qualified in the subjects that they are teaching, which threatens the quality of their education. The fault is not just that of the teachers, but of an underfunded and corrupt education system that does not put enough interest investing in educational tools and services to train teachers.

The reality is that not everyone can afford online learning and the majority of South Africans do not have access to computers or internet services. Thankfully, a number of online learning companies recognize this and are creating ways to make their services available to the masses. E-learning is the future of education, and in a system that has a high number of under-qualified teachers, it will be comforting for parents to know that their kids can have other options of learning to prepare them for their future.

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