New brand of education needed

WITH the festivities of Youth Month comes a celebration of our shared freedom, growth and prosperity, writes SIYABONGA TITI, 24, national spokesman of Proud Youth SA and a politics and business student at the University of the Western Cape.

But the celebration of these gains is inextricably linked to the necessity for collective reflection on the challenges facing the youth of this generation.

GIVEN all of the pressing issues faced by our generation, it may seem that the challenges of building a developed, cohesive and prosperous society are insurmountable.

Yet we still reserve our belief that through patriotism and taking pride in our communities and undertaking ownership over directing the course of our nation’s future, young people can begin to take steps towards integrating their needs with the government’s interventions and

SIYABONGA TITI

mechanisms. This is the nature of the services provided by NGOs such as Proud Youth SA.

Of all the dimensions of a young person’s life, none can be considered as more paramount than the health and well-being of our generation.

From the time a South African is born, he or she is made to face the world staring down the barrel of possible mortality, due largely to the neglectful and uncompassionate attitudes of healthcare professionals.

Our national infant mortality rate is inexcusably high. Of every 1 000 South Africans born, 82 will lose their lives to sickness, disease or medical malpractice

To resuscitate our fledgling healthcare systems, the state needs to direct its attention to creating a culture within primary and secondary healthcare services that facilitates a service-oriented attitude.

Health workers need to be provided with the tools and amenities necessary to provide a quality service.

The expansion of the provision of affordable primary healthcare must be reconciled with the values of service excellence, compassion and ubuntu.

Poverty

For our generation to mitigate the impact of extreme poverty, social grant mechanisms must be made readily accessible, especially to youth living in informal settlements.

Long-term economic planning around industries such as agriculture, manufacturing and other labour-intensive economic activities, needs to be tied in with skills development to ensure the creation of a skilled, competent and active workforce.

Preferential recruitment of young people, particularly graduates, needs to become an institutionalised norm throughout the private and public sectors. Micro-enterprise development funding from the state must reach the lowest geographical levels and funding mechanisms must be revised in order to mitigate the private sector’s stifling lending policies which block entry.

Only when these policies are relaxed can true economic development occur through the mushrooming of small businesses.

To address the issue of housing, only through the expansion, provision and acceleration of low-cost housing schemes can the state address its backlog. Subsidised land distribution can also curtail the proliferation of informal settlements.

The safety of our youth should be a major priority as well.

With the increasingly sophisticated nature of organised crime in South Africa, it is necessary for the state to invest in the skills and technical mechanisms of maintaining public order.

Policing needs to be conducted under clearlydefined values of compassion, service and quality.

Our ratio of police to citizens (1:300) needs to be increased by at least 20 percent in order to achieve adequate geographical coverage.

Expanded public works in the construction of housing and provision of water and electricity must be accompanied by investments in road, rail and recreational facility construction, upgrading and maintenance.

Transport must be made affordable, reliable and safer.

To foster a higher level of academic performance, a new brand of South African education is needed based on a culture of quality.

Access to learning materials and teaching aids must accompany sound physical infrastructure.

These changes will be fruitless if they are not accompanied by a shift in our collective attitudes towards our education.

These radical shifts, as well a change in our attitudes as youth, are directly linked to desired improvement in performance.

The scourge of unemployment can only be fought with aggressive economic development, radical economic policies and out-of-the box planning.

Industry players must reconcile ambitious planning with resolute decision-making and vigorous implementation.

Transformation

Social transformation in a holistic sense must be led by young people, who should spearhead the development, growth and course of South Africa’s future.

Young people must organise their activities around the improvement of society and our nation as a whole.

Such an undertaking must be collective; harnessing the pride, patriotism and passion of young people and directing action towards the achievement of social goals.

Youth and student politics must transcend the demagoguery and infighting of the local political landscape and a new, dynamic generation of leaders must emerge and take responsibility for our nation’s future.

This Youth Month, let us reflect on our position and purpose within society.

Let us plan for the prosperity of our nation and establish a precedent for a promising future.