We are expected to clap hands and say the African child is getting an education while the true reflection is something else, says Rhulani Thembi Siweya.
There is no true democracy and true nation building when our national matric results remind us of our past.
Nothing rainbow about this disturbing reality.
We are told the class of 2016 is the largest since the 1994 breakthrough. We applaud the efforts made to ensure that our children are in class learning at the correct time. We congratulate “access” to a classroom. It was not always like this. We also take note that in these 22 years, our children have had to receive different education methods as we continued to try to improve on what we fed them.
In the very footnote, our education system has not run short of many challenges ranging from teacher unions, feeding schemes and scholar transport.
In all these things, we have been able to rise and ensure more and more children are in class. More and more kids can now be in school regardless of their socio-economic upbringing.
With the announcements of the class of 2016 matric results; clearly things have not changed and as a people we are expected to clap hands for wrong things.
Wrong things which give us wrong impressions that we are doing well as a people while the reality is that we are not. Why are we as a people silent on the slow; very slow pace of ensuring that the African black child truly competes with his fellow white privileged child?
Something we seem shy to talk about. We are expected to clap hands and say the African child is getting an education while the true reflection is something else.
The reality is that the majority of blacks will never see the door of a university.
Others will make it into faculties like humanities reduced to study communications and HR.
While a majority of their white counterparts will be competing in the engineering and science faculties.
Worse we have merged our institution in name while their intake and placement still does not respond positively for those who are historically disadvantaged.
The reality is that with those who have passed, entering a university, TVET college or university of technology remains a dream they will never realise.
They will roam our streets frustrated, daily reminded that we are an unequal society.
Our youth continue to be frustrated daily.
The black child remains a victim and we still have done little to change this.
All we have done as a people is to fill our classrooms with our children, reduce pass marks, give them certificates and now they will study at faculties which are not the core of our economy.
Others will be in universities which are not comparable with your former white universities.
We must accept that as we continue to advocate for free quality education until first degrees, we have “two-twinned” education systems which are not integrated.
We produce matric students who’s education was never linked with the expectation of our universities.
No wonder we have so many unemployed graduates.
No wonder our children complete their studies and fail to even become job creators.
In all these things, in the main we need to take a serious conscious decision that all is not well and things must change.
* Siweya is the founder of Africa Unmasked and an NEC member of the ANCYL. She writes in her personal capacity.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.