I always found it amazing to read the biographies of people from around the world and how they have influenced the lives of others.
Recently, a stalwart in the Struggle, Elma Carolissen, passed away at the age of 95. I met her when I taught at South Peninsula High (SP) before I left the school in 2016. She came to visit the school in 2010, and I got to know her as one of the fiercest opponents of apartheid and capitalism.
Although in her eighties already, she had the gift of connecting with young people and getting them involved in understanding the connection between politics and education. The students of SP were fortunate to come into contact with her. She is a South African who made a huge contribution to freedom in our country.
We must ask ourselves: why is it we have had so many great, honest, and intellectually very bright leaders in our country, yet we fail in so many respects in creating a South African society free of all the problems we have today?
It is a situation all of us in South Africa have to address, and we need to confront it head-on. I will focus on education because I spent 39 wonderful years in education. I loved working with students, parents, and teachers, hearing their insights into education and the kind of education system they would want in South Africa.
The majority of people in South Africa want a non-racial system of education where education is free and compulsory. Many problems in education would be sorted out if education was free. Yes, we must admit the system under the ANC government is better than under the apartheid system.
The children of parents who jointly earn under R350 000 a year are exempted from paying for tertiary education. A step in the right direction, but as we see presently, many students still cannot afford the high cost of university education, and unless this is urgently attended to by the government, we will see disruptions at tertiary education institutions continuing.
The ECD, primary, and high school systems are tremendously underfunded, and if this is not corrected, we will see unrest in these sectors as well.
The government needs to sit down with all stakeholders on a regular basis to address the issues in education. The government must be proactive. It should be ready to recognise the problems in education and solve them with stakeholders.
The government should consider critics as important stakeholders in education.
Consider how the WCED handled the Wesley Neumann saga at Heathfield High. Here we have a principal who, with the community, recommended that in 2020 students stay at home until the Covid-19 pandemic subsided. The WCED dismissed this forward-thinking principal.
Instead of millions being spent on disciplining the principal, surely a discussion with the school could have resulted in an amicable solution.
For a country lauded for negotiating a peaceful settlement in 1994, surely we should have a national government that solves problems and not creates them.
The national government should look to the activists in our country who brought about meaningful change, such as Elma Carolissen.
* Brian Isaacs.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.
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