this is hogwash article by Sandile Memela not worth the paper printed on! On Fri, Oct 30, 2015 at 11:54 AM, VC <[email protected]> wrote:
> > > > > [image: New Age2.png] > > > > > > *The contradictions of education* > > > > > > *Sandile Memela, The New Age, Johannesburg, 30 October 2015* > > > > A critical examination of student upheavals soon reveals a lack of focus, > strategy and political confusion with neither clear nor well-defined > objectives. > > > > The history of the student upheavals teach us clearly that perhaps a > struggle waged by students does not lead to total liberation, whatever that > is. > > > > Too many say 1976 marked a turning point where the student and youth of > this country were in the forefront of the struggle to end oppression and > exploitation in South Africa. > > > > [image: Sandile Memela Article Illustration.jpg] > > > > This was repeated in 1985 when, again, students and youth pushed hard > against poor education, injustice and inequality. > > > > But a critical examination of the gains, if any, soon reveals loss of > focus, lack of strategy and political confusion with neither clear and > well-defined objectives of the desires and aspirations. > > > > There seems to be something fleeting and shallow about student and youth > power that lacks a coherent and consistent political strategy. Instead, the > end results are not what students fought for, that is, trained and > effective teachers, state-of-the-art learning facilities and unconditional > access to good education, let alone economic equality and social justice. > > > > Perhaps it needs to be said that the vanguard of the struggle is not the > students but their parents who are the workers. Student power, with all its > energy and enthusiasm, is riddled with inherent faults that will ultimately > see young people ultimately assimilated into the economy . > > > > Those of us who were participants in the deep rumbles of 1976 have, at the > end, become part of the very system we fought against. > > > > Exactly four years after June 16, 1976 – a semblance of normality returned > to schools and thus small groups started to graduate from high school. > > > > By 1980 the fortunate few joined other students with ambitions to use > education as a tool to escape poverty. > > > > Coming mostly from poor working class backgrounds, our parents were the > domestic helpers, gardeners, messengers, cleaners and other menial workers. > They never owned cars to drive us to university campuses or witness as we > settled comfortably into residences at bush colleges like Fort Hare, > Turfloop and Ongoye. The few parents who could afford it only accompanied > us to the train station to bid us farewell in our ambitions to escape our > condemned backgrounds of poverty and hopelessness. > > > > Looking back, it would seem that our oppressed and exploited parents knew > that only education would free us from the hell on earth of hopeless > township life. Very few of my colleagues and friends came from privileged > backgrounds. There would be the odd one or two whose parents were > schoolteachers, principals or nurses but the rest of our parents were > underpaid workers. > > > > Many of them worked up to 18 hours a day which saw them leave home at 4am > only to return around 9pm due to transport problems, long working hours and > the distances they had to travel. Ironically, these black mothers and > fathers were our heroes who did what they had to do to keep us well fed > with leftovers and well clothed with shabby garb from second-hand shops. > > > > It was only when we graduated from high schools that we realised we were > poor, condemned and had little hope in life – except when we went to > school. > > > > A few years earlier, which was in 1976, a growing number had been > radicalised by this experience and became freedom fighters who went into > exile, jail and died in the face of apartheid repression. > > > > But I suppose those of us who got bursaries and sponsorship to go to > universities represented both a betrayal and a fulfilment of African > people’s dreams for freedom. The primary aim of education is to train and > prepare you for a working life that will promote and perpetuate the > economic system with its injustice and inequality. We were willing to lift > ourselves up by our bootstraps and whether we knew it or not then, this was > going to alienate us from what we came to know as “our people” and > disconnect us from our communities. > > > > Usually, progress for educated blacks is a giant leap that takes them away > from their traditions, languages, communities, families and other ties that > bind, to adopt new ways that co-opts them. > > > > The university graduates become the movers and shakers quick to integrate > corporate culture in the name of individual self-determination. This is > always rationalised as the result of hard work, self-discipline, focus and, > ultimately, success and achievement. > > > > It should be said that in 1976, for instance, we already understood that > getting a university education would give us access to becoming part of the > black middle class. > > > > We understood the middle class was created to be a buffer zone between the > black poor and the exploitative white-controlled economic system. > > > > In the pursuit of our student ambitions and dreams, many of us have found > ourselves in a strange situation where we have become part of what is > derogatorily called the oppressor class. > > > > In short, we have become part of the history and system that we not only > fought against but condemned some of our mates to poverty and hopelessness. > > > > We were products of oppression and exploitation, of course, but as we > progressed and matured through finishing our university education, we > escaped into the freedom guaranteed by education and self-determination. > > > > We did not have any extra qualities or abilities that our peers and > contemporaries lacked except that we understood and were willing to listen > to our parents and teachers. Even today as the Fees Must Fall campaign > falters, it is the voice of the parents that tells students to return to > class. > > > > Yes, education will not only liberate students from material need but > provide jobs, meaning, purpose, relative comfort and security. > > > > To speak truthfully about the link between this history and liberation, > some of us are fortunate to occupy middle-management positions in the > government, the corporate world and in NGOs. > > > > There will always be a sense of betrayal threatening to overwhelm students > who will have made it because of the untransformed economic system and > corporate culture. Essentially, student struggles won’t always result in > transformation the youth wish to see. > > > > • Sandile Memela is a journalist, writer, culture critic and civil > servant > > > > > > *From: http://tnaepaper.co.za/ <http://tnaepaper.co.za/>* > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus > signature database 12488 (20151030) __________ > > The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. > > http://www.eset.com > > -- > -- > You are subscribed. This footer can help you. > Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to > this message. > You can visit the group WEB SITE at > http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery > options, pages, files and membership. > To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] > . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to > put anything in the message part. 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