Education is key to uplifting communities and the country as a whole, due to apartheid, masses of people were left with very remedial educations…
This puts a vast strain on our nation as the country moves forwards, these men and women are left behind. Hlomla Dandala is a South African actor, presenter and director who recently tweeted about how his mother picked up her schooling when he was placed in Grade 1.
Hlomla feels there is an under-utilised resource just waiting to be tapped into if South Africa could get itself sorted out. The thread has started a vital conversation surrounding education in South Africa as well as giving immigrants purposeful work. Hlomla started the conversation by explaining the example his mother set for him.
“My mother has been a shining example of determination in the face of impossible odds stacked against her. When I was doing grade 1, at 30yrs old she started doing her grade 10. My mother is about to complete her 2nd PhD. She was mocked throughout her schooling by their friends, by her schoolmates and family.”
“No one is mocking her now. More importantly; the way the South African education system is today, it would be nearly impossible for my mother to achieve what she did under an Apartheid South Africa. Today we have an army of people who need to be upskilled or even just get a basic education.”
Hlomla delves into the political nature of immigrants from neighbouring countries who are coming to South Africa for freedom and a better life but cannot build a better life because of the rules restricting them. He feels that should we utilise these higher educated individuals, we would be addressing multiple socio-economic factors such as crime, poverty, lack of education and even foreign politics.
“We already know that their fate is either cheap labor or criminality. We KNOW that right now. At the same time, we have school assets that don’t work beyond 14:30. They lie fallow for 17 and a half hours a day. Also… We have an army of highly educated foreigners from neighbouring countries like Zimbabwe escaping hunger and illegally entering SA.”
“We have no current systems to absorb them/naturalize them or put them to good use to empower us. Instead, we force them into a life of crime because… we have no way of metabolizing them, save for sending them back to a life they tried to escape.”
“Surely, if we ran a campaign to utilize those educated foreigners to sweat assets we have lying fallow to educate our people who have no future, save for crime, we will save our own children”
Not only does he feel this could be a greater asset to South Africa, but he also questions the shift in education. Today, many people are considered too old to complete school and get left behind. He ends with one final question…
“Whatever happened to night school?”
There are many angles to debate when it comes to poverty, crime, immigrants and education but one cannot deny that Hlomla has a point regarding this opinion. What if we could change the fate of the country by educating the uneducated?
What are your thoughts? Do you carry Hlomla’s sentiments or do you have another angle? Let us know in the comments section.
ABSOLUTELY!! I lived in UK for 10 years, but recently moved back a year or so ago, for this exact cause. South Africa, is a place beyond; it has so much to offer. And what I have experienced in the last year being back home is that the uneducated here are sooooo eager to learn. We need to take interest, share knowledge with our fellow South Africans, and educate!! Great article, makes my heart happy😊❤