Vryburg Hoërskool made head–lines in the late 1990s when it became a symbol for a South African obsession: racism.
Located in a predominantly conservative Afrikaner town in the North West province, the resistance by white parents to racial integration at the high school erupted into open conflict in 1998 when a group of black learners, accompanied by their parents, organised a protest march against the school’s management because of alleged racism. Some members of the school governing body (SGB) mobilised white parents to stop the march. What followed was an ugly confrontation where white parents sjamboked the black learners.
While charges of assault were laid against some of the white parents, the cases dragged on until they were eventually dropped. But racial tension continued to simmer until it exploded again in 2000 when Andrew Babeile, a black learner, stabbed a white peer with a pair of scissors. He was arrested and sentenced to a jail term.
Five years on, Vryburg Hoërskool has come a long way towards creating a culture of racial tolerance and integration. While the black component of the school’s learner body is only 33%, it’s a long way from the all-white affair it was previously. The racial composition of the teaching body has also shifted, with seven black teachers in a staff of 26.
The slow-but-steady progress is generally credited to principal Andries du Toit, who was brought out of retirement to lead the change in 2001. When he arrived at the school, the situation was dire. ‘A police commissioner phoned to ask how many Casspirs I would need to keep a vigil around the school,” says Du Toit. He refused the offer, believing that a place resembling an army barracks was not conducive to learning environment.
Discipline at school had also broken down. ‘Learners were not punctual, did not put on school uniform and were just disrespectful to one another,” he says. To get things right, ‘I had to instil discipline and make sure that we were all pulling in the same direction.”
An important step was doing away with the ‘two different timetables, one for white and the other for black learners”. The school remained a parallel-language medium — with white learners learning in Afrikaans and black learners in English — and teachers were expected to teach both groups.
Next on the list was changing symbols and paintings, typically of white history such as the Anglo-Boer South African War, that still carry strong political messages dating back to 1891 when the school was built. Du Toit says he removed culturally charged artifacts from his office in favour of those with a politically neutral message. ‘As an educator, I believe I have to be neutral and keep politics out of the school,” he says.
The national anthem is another classic example of how Du Toit insisted on change. When he first arrived, white learners would only sing Die Stem in school assemblies. He found this unacceptable and got them to sing and understand the other part of the anthem.
Sport is another vital tool that Du Toit uses to foster positive interactions among learners. Although Vryburg Hoër is traditionally a rugby school, it has created two development teams to accommodate non-traditional (read black) rugby players. He says he is quite pleased to see a number of white learners also taking an active part in soccer activities.
He also ensured that the role and functions of the SGB were streamlined to limit unwanted interference from some parents.
With the ship on calmer waters, it was time to deliver good academic results. And deliver it did. For example, ‘last year the school obtained 98% [pass rate] — 6% [were] black learners [who scored] a 100% pass rate”. This was an improvement on the past years where the pass rate was 90%.
There may be many more rubicons to cross before the school reaches the promised land, but Vryburg Hoër has at least made some good progress down a difficult road.