Tsietsi Mashinini lecture places spotlight on equality in education
Education experts say inequality remains the biggest challenge in the system.
Black News 
Fifty years after the Soweto Uprising, questions are being raised about whether South Africa has achieved equality in education. Education experts say inequality remains the biggest challenge in the system.
They argue that disparities in school funding between wealthy and poor communities continue to shape learner outcomes.
The remarks were made at the 11th Tsietsi Mashinini Memorial Lecture in Soweto, which reflects on the legacy of the 1976 student uprising.
Tsietsi Donald Mashinini was one of the leading figures of the 1976 Soweto Uprising, helping to mobilise thousands of students in protest against the apartheid education system.
A student at Morris Isaacson High School, Mashinini became a symbol of youth resistance and the fight for equal education.
Fifty years later, his legacy continues to inspire conversations about the state of education in democratic South Africa.
Mashinini’s brother, Dee Mashinini, says he would be pleased that there is now a university in Soweto, calling it a major achievement in education.
“We are commemorating Tsietsi Mashinini. We are commemorating June 16, 50 years since it erupted in Soweto and many other parts in South Africa. We are recalling the tough days of the time. We are recalling Afrikaans, we are recalling Bantu education. We are recalling state oppression. We are recalling brutality and in today’s time we would also like to celebrate those freedoms. I think he would be happy that there is a university in Soweto and I think that’s a great achievement at an education level, but basically that’s it.”
While access to education has improved since 1994, education expert Jonathan Jansen says deep inequalities between wealthy and poor schools still persist in South Africa today.
“He would like the fact that you can now, in theory, go to any school you wish, that there isn’t a police presence harassing students, and that you can study in the language you wish. You’d be happy about those things, but I think you’d be very sad that you could still see huge differences whether your school is in Sandton or in white’s city. You know, I mean, I think you’d be disappointed because this is a struggle for education for all, not just for some.”
Jansen says South Africa’s education system must be rebuilt from the bottom up, with a stronger focus on early childhood development.
“We need to rebuild the system from the bottom up. The focus on Grade 12 is too late because too few students get there. You need to make sure that students do well in science, in math, in literacy, numeracy from Grade 1. But more important than that, you need to invest in such a way that every child, not some children, every child gets access to quality preschool education or what we call early childhood education.”
The country’s education system remains under scrutiny 50 years after the Soweto Uprising, with growing calls to close the gap in access to quality education and improve learning outcomes for all learners.
