South Africa will be able to solve its problems only when it has sorted out its educational stumbling blocks, University of the Free State vice chancellor Professor Jonathan Jansen said on Monday.
”If we are not going to get students from schools who understand democracy, we are not going to get the country right,” Jansen told guests at the first of a series of discussions called ”Education Conversations”.
Education Conversations is a partnership between the Development Bank of Southern Africa, Shikaya, The Field Education and the Teacher’s sister publication, the Mail & Guardian which aims to engage South Africans in conversations on education issues.
Jansen’s topic for discussion was ”How do we prepare young people in schools and universities to be active and caring citizens?”
The new rector at Kovsies told the gathering the solution for this question would have to come from ordinary people and not from
politicians.
”Up to a point I believed politicians cared about people, I found out they do not care,” he said, adding: ”Solutions are going to come from people like us [indicating the audience].”
Jansen said the situation in South Africa’s schools was a reflection of what was going on in society. Children reflected what they saw, heard and felt on a daily basis.
Jansen said pupils, who watched television daily, did not hear or experience democracy.
He referred to South Africa’s handling of issues such as exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dali Lama recently, and the attacks on foreigners in South Africa.
Jansen said it was ”scary” what damage was done to young people in an effort to be politically correct.
Nevertheless, he said more should be done to teach pupils to be ”proud citizens.”
”They need to understand what it is to be a citizen, to be decent.”
The aspect of ”mutual vulnerability as human beings” should also be highlighted.
”The problem with South Africa is black and white think — we can solve our problems separately.”
A third aspect pupils needed to experience was ”counter-culture leadership” such as that which former president Nelson Mandela practised.
Jansen said the African National Congress government should continue its ”Nation Building” campaign.
He said the country’s students would not behave democratically if ”parents, teachers, and other leaders such as vice-chancellors” did not show them what democracy was.
Similar ”Education Conversations” discussions are expected to held in the rest of the country in the next two months. — Sapa