Schools need to walk their talk
SUBTLE FORMS OF RACISM A DANGER TO US ALL
IN THE middle of Youth Month, Curro Roodeplaat Independent School has done it again. Last week the school, on its way to an excursion, arranged separate buses for black and white pupils.
Video shots clearly show how black pupils were sent to their own bus, though the school has patronisingly explained that it was separating them based on their spoken language. The white bus was for pupils who speak Afrikaans, the black bus for English speakers. How absurd!
As in 1976, we see the use of language for political and racist ends. It is so sad that language can be used to perpetuate racist agendas. One cannot help but recall how, in 1976, Afrikaans was brought on to the turf of the racist war of oppression – with sad consequences. Unfortunately, because it is being used to justify absurdities in society, these experiences are not doing any favours for this ordinary South African language.
And it is also clear that Curro will hardly change its agenda, as trails of problems seem to follow the school. The uncovering of various bigoted tendencies within it has given the government and society homework, as well as time, to reflect on the true purpose of our schools.
A few weeks ago, we witnessed how the school management upheld prejudiced notions to nurse some white parents, who were threatening to take their children to other schools to avoid integrated classrooms. How unthinkable could this be when we consider how far this nation has come.
Mind you, it was a good discovery, though, because in waves of excitement about the new society we tend to forget how many people suffer every day on farms and in firms and institutions similar to the Curro school.
Many victims never make the newspaper headlines as they suffer indignity and scorn, working for companies whose mission statements beguilingly display hope of a better, more harmonious future.
Curro is one example that demonstrates how far off the mark we are. This school is undergirded by a Christian ethos that highlights a caring behaviour that would benefit human kind. The school song’s lyrics bid for glory for all the school’s role-players.
Yet, this school’s racist tendencies should be a wake-up call. There are more important scripts we need to entertain than the more mundane and perfunctory pieces. Otherwise, sadly, our society has no future, as children will still live within the confines and grudges of their forebears.
And society is fast bringing negative impacts to bear on schools; stereotypes, hatred, violence and segregation are some of the ills that persist in South African society. And they are evident in its schools. Many other examples can also be found in higher education institutions.
The Curro experience generally shows how many pupils and their families are failed by schools when it comes to fairness. Schools are supposed to be levellers in society, institutions that close the gap between the rich and the poor, yet the unearthing of racism in Curro makes one think of 100 other schools that fail families whose main desire is the sort of education that will equip their children for a better future.
There are many ways that schools hide various kinds of segregation and these include the separation of Afrikaans and English classes. Often, these concepts appear to be legitimate, noble or justifiable, but by examining them closely one can easily see they are ploys used to have separate classrooms based on race. This is a mockery of democracy and the denigration of years of struggle for the total liberation of South Africa’s people.
The post-apartheid education policy is based on the constitution, and among its objectives is the redressing of past imbalances and the addressing of education based on race.
The problem with schools that have similar arrangements to Curro is that we cannot create top performers who will be confident change agents in society – and even the best of curricula will fail to enable pupils to be thought leaders and champions of a transforming society.
In fact, education will bring paradoxes such as creating dissonance in being taught about a progressive society, while the school culture is stifling. Schools that continue to short-change pupils are anathema to society and a disgrace to the constitution of the republic.
Even the best of schools will be negatively affected by malicious intent to segregate pupils according to colour lines. Such classes have deep implications for socialisation; children on sports grounds play with those they are familiar with, the ones they share their classroom with. Moreover, schools such as Curro are only bringing back what apartheid education purported. Schools based on Verwoerdian principles will bring about children with low selfesteem.
In our fight over the pedagogical goals of education, debates frequently come to nought because it is the political and historical questions we are so tied by. Our children need education that will also address their civic, moral and humanising aspects.
Segregated classes are the antithesis of an equitable society. But the experiments in schools such as Curro will make parents question the worth of sending their children to school. Many black parents invest in education by sending their children to what they regard as better schools.
Some of them have an idea of what their children should get from school, although others may have reasons that are far from being pedagogic. Better English communication skills, improved numeracy skills and exposure to varied sporting codes may be among those reasons.
However, many consciously want their children to mingle with children from other cultures and racial backgrounds and learn from the rich cultural experience. Yet, as highlighted above, maybe society is expecting too much from schools, to the point of being unrealistic. Indeed, schools will be as good as the society in which they are built.
Recent events in schools display how tough it is for them to compensate the ills of South African society. In another recent case in Roodepoort, we saw how ugly wrangling in schools can be, as coloured parents fought with black parents over what the school’s staffing and goals should be. This was so pathetic that at some point the school’s gates had to be locked. In fact, at some point the MEC for Education closed the school. We have also witnessed how initiation of pupils ends up being a semblance of discrimination in some schools. In an incident that happened early this year in Jan Kempdorp, Northern Cape, four white boys raped a black boy with a broomstick.
We live in a sick society that constantly sends confusing messages to young people. The Grade R white child in Curro grows up knowing her superiority over the other pupils in black classes. South Africa does not need past vestiges such as these in its schools.
We are fortunate that Curro is being exposed for what they do in practice. However, we should be afraid of the many schools that continue to practise subtle racism without being discovered. There are also many that might be known, but where role-players such as parents do not want to ruffle feathers in case they jeopardise the placement of their children.
Yet, we all have a role to play in confronting racism as it shows its face. South Africa cannot afford to revert to the history manufactured by smart leaders such as the dishonourable Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd. There is so much at stake, now more than ever before, and schools cannot be complicit in destroying the future they purport to build. Constant questions need to be asked as to why schools exist and what we want for the country’s future.
Racism does not destroy one group, but ensnares all as victims. Schools should be leading in change initiatives as society continues to build a harmonious nation. There is no place for racist schools in the democratic dispensation, but society should play its role. There are many parents who are aloof, who believe that teachers will create a conducive atmosphere for all pupils. Kudos to the 30 parents who stood up at Curro Roodeplaat in the past few weeks. Schools cannot be permitted to continue with education that supports an unjust society.
A struggle was pronounced in 1976 against an unjust system of education and it should continue. We need to discontinue the flawed experiments where our children are guinea pigs. While we continue to preach reconciliation, we talk over one another and soon our children will realise the misleading arguments we use in the guise of preparing their future.