As the country remembers the events of the 1976 Soweto demonstrations, South African youth still raise questions over unfulfilled promises of access to quality education.
On paper, the education sector in South Africa appears to flourish.
There are more equitable education policies and legislation; basic education is the second-largest funded sector; once white-only schools have opened up for all races; court-mandated feeding schemes; and the introduction of free basic education, “as imperfect as it is”, said Katherine Sutherland, Equal Education researcher, and Kgomotso Kgasi, the organisation’s Head of Organising in Gauteng.
Such equitable policies, legislation and budgeting do not always translate into reality, according to Sutherland, who worked on the compilation of the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation’s Youth Parade memorandum.
“Over and above rampant school overcrowding, a lack of safe and proper public school infrastructure, little psycho-social support, unsafe schooling environments, and extremely low rates of literacy, there are a few issues that have persisted in the 28 years of democracy,” Sutherland and Kgasi said.
Sutherland and Kgasi are a part of a group of young people and civil organisations who plan to walk to the Union Buildings in Pretoria to hand over the memorandum on Youth Day 2022, holding close…