Education?

I have been volunteering with a group called Equal Education here in Cape Town.  They are advocating for improvements in the education system in South Africa.  During the Apartheid era, education of Blacks was called Bantu education and was specifically designed as a separate and unequal system (interesting that this system was implemented just as the similar system in the US was being deconstructed). I think Bantu Education is pretty well summed up with this quote from Hendrik Verwoerd (The Minister of Native Affairs in 1953 when the policy too affect):

"There is no place for [the Bantu] in the European community above the level of certain forms of labour ... What is the use of teaching the Bantu child mathematics when it cannot use it in practice? That is quite absurd. Education must train people in accordance with their opportunities in life, according to the sphere in which they live."

Obviously, this system is hard to undue.  After 4 decades of inferior education, the damage cannot be undone overnight.  Still most of the current teachers in Black schools, (although they are not officially segregated anymore, they are largely segregated by where people live), were educated in the Bantu education system and are not really qualified to teach the new education curriculum.  The schools are overcrowded, many lack proper sanitation facilities, and 92% of South African public schools do NOT have libraries!  Equal Education is an advocacy group that "advocates for quality and equality in the South African education system and engages in evidence-based activism for improving the nation's schools." You can read more about them here: http://www.equaleducation.org.za/what_is_EE


One of their many projects is to work with schools to create libraries.  Most of the schools have a space called a library, but they don't have books, librarians, computers, etc.  So Equal Education collects books and donations and has already opened about 14 libraries.  I have volunteered with them a few Saturdays in the past few weeks to sort, cover (the books are mostly paperback so they are covered in clear contact paper to increase their lifetime), and catalog books.  Today was the opening of a library in Khayelitsha (the largest Township in Cape Town - 1 Million people!)  It is at Matthew Goniwe Memorial High School.  The opening was quite moving.  The program started with a learner performing a poem about the principal and her work to improve the school.

Then the principal spoke about how the school had gone from being in the news for the wrong reasons (two separate stabbings of students in 2005 and 2006) and now was classified as the best high school in Khayleitsha!  She spoke about her efforts to create a book club of teachers and students (with the help of Equal Education and a local bookstore).  She was told to select 15 students, but had 25 who were interested and qualified after visiting only 5 classes in the school and had managed to get all of them included.  And how she and all the learners were so excited about the library.

Next 4 learners performed a scene from a book they had read and a small group sang some beautiful songs (not the best quality video recordings, sorry).

And then the ribbon was cut and the library officially opened.  The learners quickly filled the room and went right to the books.  They began taking them off the shelves, reading them, and sharing lines with each other.  It was clear that the library will be well used and a much needed resource in the school.

Row of outhouses

After leaving, I drove around the township a little bit.  Rows of shacks, poorly maintained roads, lines of outhouses, crisscrossing electricity wires (as there are many illegal electricity connections), and trash abound. I can only begin to imagine all of the struggles that students from this environment face everyday!  But I hope that having a library, and the ability to take books home, will at least make a small improvement in their lives.

A slideshow with some other photos from the day: