Today we report about the shocking state of education in the John Taolo Gaetsewe District Municipality, which Education Minister Angie Motshekga last year described as the worst-performing districts in the Northern Cape

For three months now about 16000 pupils have been languishing at home, unable to go to school all because of service-delivery protests that have turned violent.

Since June, fed-up residents in their area have forced teachers to shut the gates of over 35 schools to pupils from Grade R to Grade 12.

Motshekga is yet to visit the area and we are told that she is involved "behind the scenes" in helping to solve the problem

While the focus in the past months has been on Limpopo and the Eastern Cape regarding government's failure to deliver textbooks, the crisis in Northern Cape seems to have gone un-noticed.

How can political leaders, including the community in the area, allow the education of the kids to be compromised in such a blatant manner?

University of the Free State rector Professor Jonathan Jansen hit in the nail when he said the government should make this a public scandal. There should be action taken when pupils are stopped from going to school.

Crises in our education sector will come back to bite all of us and the young generation as it joins the unemployed masses. Those who are unable to get a quality education will become a burden to the state and their lack of education will have a direct impact on their offspring.

Our future and that of generations to come is compromised if we do not take education seriously as a country.

Let's defend the right to education and break the cycle of poverty.