Stellenbosch University says exams have been postponed by a week following an alleged racist incident and rape on campus.  

The university added that all assessments which had deadlines for this coming week will also be extended by one week.

This decision comes after disruptions took place in the wake of the racism incident which took place at the Huis Marias residence on Sunday and the sexual assault of a female student on Tuesday.

Earlier last week, a white student, Theunis du Toit, was suspended after a video of him urinating on a black student’s belongings circulated on social media.

Another student was arrested and later released on R1,000 bail.

On Friday, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Learning and Teaching Deresh Ramjugernath said students would no longer sit for their first semester exams on Monday.

“The university announced on Friday that the examinations would be postponed from their scheduled start on Monday, May 23 and would now start on Monday, 30 May”.

Ramjugernath said the decision to postpone examinations and assessments was taken after consultation and careful deliberation.

Ramjugernath said, “We understand that there’s been significant trauma and discomfort and our students are in a challenging mental state, and in an emotional state where it’s very difficult for them to write the exams come Monday.”

He added that the decision to postpone examinations and assessments received overwhelming support from all the representatives from the faculties within the Learning and Teaching Workstream.

INSIDE EDUCATION

CYRIL RAMAPHOSA|

THE country has, in recent days, been outraged at the sight of a white student at the University of Stellenbosch degrading and humiliating a fellow black student in a despicable act.

There has been widespread anger that such acts still take place in a country with a bitter past like ours; a past which we have fought so hard to overcome.

It is more troubling that such incidents are happening at schools and places of higher learning. A number of the people involved were born after the end of apartheid.

While the incident at the University of Stellenbosch may seem like an aberration – an appalling act that has been roundly condemned – the truth is that racism is still a feature of every-day life in South Africa. The sooner we recognise that reality, the sooner we can change it.

We know that racism, here and around the world, is driven by feelings of superiority on the part of those who perpetuate it. And although racism can be directed against anyone, it is black people who bear the brunt, both in the past and in the present. As the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement has so strongly asserted, we need to systematically dismantle and eradicate attitudes of white superiority.

It is encouraging and exhilarating to see young South Africans taking the lead in this effort. The thousands of students who have joined protests at Stellenbosch and elsewhere were not responding to just one incident.

They were responding to a deep and pervasive problem in our society, which they themselves have to confront daily.

As Kwenzokuhle Khumalo, a 4th year Management Sciences student and leader, told students on the Stellenbosch campus this week: “You’ve met the wrong generation this time.”

Like the youth of 1976, a new generation of young South Africans is stepping forward to proclaim their birth right and reclaim their future. They are challenging society to grapple with racism, its causes and its effects. As Ms Khumalo rightly said, it is not black people who are the problem and need attention, but those people who still hold on to ideas of white superiority.

It cannot be that the onus must rest with the formerly oppressed as the main victims of racism to advance reconciliation. It cannot be that black South Africans have to continue to prove themselves worthy of dignity and respect.

In a 2016 judgment on a case involving an employee of the South African Revenue Service who was fired for using the k-word at work, Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng wrote: “There are many bridges yet to be crossed in our journey from crude and legalised racism to a new order where social cohesion, equality and the effortless observance of the right to dignity is a practical reality.”

If we are going to cross these bridges, we need to understand what is causing racist attitudes to flourish in our schools and places of higher learning. We need to understand what kind of institutional cultures contribute to racism in the workplace, in social organisations and in communities.

We need frank and honest dialogue between people of different races on the experiences of black people in South Africa 28 years into democracy.

These discussions should be part of the life orientation curriculum in our schools. The arts and culture community should produce content and programming that fully reflects the diversity of the country and the lived experiences of people of all races.

Greater emphasis should be placed on inculcating tolerance and respect for diversity in the classroom from a young age. Parents should be part of this effort because the reality is that racist, chauvinistic and sexist attitudes among the younger generation are often a reflection of what they observe and learn from their parents and older relatives at home.

As many student leaders who took part in protests over the past week said, when it comes to transformation the time for half-measures is over.

This doesn’t only apply to overt racism in schools, workplaces and places of higher learning, but to all of society. Just as racists must be held accountable for their actions, all sectors of society, including business, must advance transformation.

The rights to equality and human dignity are the cornerstones of our Constitution and building a non-racial and non-sexist society is our shared fundamental responsibility.

In complying with employment equity legislation, in advancing broad-based black economic empowerment, in taking practical steps towards redress and undoing the legacy of our discriminatory past, we are not just obeying the law.

We are redressing a grave injustice and building a new country in which race, class and gender no longer determine the circumstances of one’s birth or one’s prospects in life.

Ending racism is not just about changing attitudes; it is also about changing the material conditions that still today separate black and white South Africans.

We have come too far and the sacrifices made have been too great for such appalling acts of racism to turn us against each other. Rather, we must use this incident to confront the issue of race and racial inequality in our society.

It is our wish and expectation that the student population and the broader Stellenbosch university community, both black and white, find each other and rally together to confront racism honestly with courage and truthfulness. They must roundly reject what has happened and express their determination to achieve a learning environment free of bigotry, racism and chauvinism and embrace a non-racial future for Stellenbosch University. By so doing they will set the standard for us all.

From the desk of the President

SISI Khampepe, who recently resigned Constitutional Court Justice, has been named the new chancellor of the University Of Pretoria (UP). Khampepe will begin her five-year term on June 28 2022.

Professor Wiseman Nkuhlu, who was appointed chancellor in March 2007, will step down.

Tawana Kupe, UP vice-chancellor and principal professor, said: “Professor Nkuhlu’s excellent work and devotion to the university over the past 15 years is greatly appreciated. His term as chancellor ends on June 27, 2022.”

The chairperson of the UP council, Kuseni Dlamini, said: “With four decades of service in the legal field, 12 of them in the Constitutional Court, Justice Khampepe, affectionately known as ‘SK’, is celebrated for her role in strengthening the rule of law in South Africa, her judicial bravery and her firm commitment to justice for everyone. 

“She is a jurist of vast intellect, uncompromising integrity, inimitable style, humour, warmth, kindness, humility, grace and quiet strength. In every respect, she is a true ambassador for South Africa. She epitomises the values and character that UP requires in its chancellor, and the qualities we seek to develop in our students.”

Khampepe was elected by the Electoral College.

According to a university release.Members of the council and senate, as well as the president of the convocation, make up the Electoral College.

“With four decades of service in the legal field, 12 of them in the Constitutional Court, Justice Khampepe, affectionately known as ‘SK,’ is celebrated for her role in strengthening the rule of law in South Africa, her judicial bravery, and her firm commitment to justice for all,” said Kuseni Dlamini, chairperson of the UP council. She is a jurist with a wide intellect, unwavering integrity, unmistakable style, wit, warmth, generosity, humility, grace, and quiet strength. “She epitomizes the ideals and character that UP expects in its chancellor, as well as the attributes we aspire to nurture in our students,” said the university president.

INSIDE EDUCATION

MICHAEL SYMONS

Home-schooled students in New Jersey would be able to sign up for extracurricular activities in what would have been their school district, under a bill advancing through the Assembly.

Right now, access is decided by each school district. But A1041, endorsed last week by the Assembly Education Committee, would require all districts to allow it, taking away local decision-making.

Assemblyman Jay Webber, R-Morris, said home-schooling “has been put on a real turbo-boost” during the pandemic but that unless they have access to extracurriculars, kids are cut off from things like sports and school plays.

“An orchestra, for example, is not something you can replicate in your living room, something that a homeschool student should have access to.”

John Burns, senior legislative counsel for the New Jersey School Boards Association says it should remain an option for schools, not a mandate forced on them.

“Each district and each community should be able to determine this issue for themselves,” Burns said.

Jennie Lamon, assistant director of government relations for the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association, said it should remain optional because the bill doesn’t provide enough oversight to make sure it’s not exploited.

“And it would just be inequitable and unfair to public school students if another group of students is gaining eligibility under a different set of rules,” Lamon said.

“Public school students should have first shot at participation,” she said. “Indeed, they have chosen this setting and all that it has to offer.”

Webber said the opposition is mostly about “administrative and bureaucratic concerns” – and that what’s fair is to open up access to students and their families, “who pay a lot in property taxes to their local school districts and don’t use any of the services presently.”

“Allowing those students to participate in football or drama or orchestra I think is just fair to again the kids and the families,” Webber said.

Assemblyman Erik Simonsen, the athletic director at Lower Cape May Regional High School, said his district lets home-schooled students participate – and that eligibility rules around attendance and grades don’t exactly apply to them.

“I’ve had parents drop off handwritten transcripts and such so that their kid could play, while other kids were not able to participate due to their grades,” Simonsen said. “That’s where the real divide is. That’s where the unfairness comes in.”

Assemblyman Ralph Caputo, D-Essex, said it’s complicated to assess whether home-schooled students are meeting standards.

“I think it opens up a whole world of questions regarding the effectiveness of homeschool,” Caputo said. “Some people could take advantage of home school and not really home school.”

Michael Symons is the Statehouse bureau chief for New Jersey 101.5. Y

DISGRUNTLED students from University of Free State (UFS) in Qwaqwa have called on the university management to find amicable solutions for student issues and withdraw the current deployment of police and security on campus.

This, after the violent protests by students that erupted in Qwaqwa campus earlier this week.

The UFS Economic Freedom Fighters Student Command spokesperson in Qwaqwa, Xola Mehlomakhulu, said that students are disappointed by so-called “trigger happy” police who target unarmed students – while criminals continue to murder women and children of this country.

Mehlomakhulu also lambasted the UFS for allegedly victimising, suspending and getting students arrested.

He further alleges that the University has a court interdict which prohibits students from voicing their concerns.

THE Portfolio Committee on Higher Education, Science and Innovation has commended the suspension of a Stellenbosch University student, who was filmed urinating on the belongings of a fellow student.

The incident was captured in a cell phone video. It took place at the Huis Marais residence on the university campus in the early hours of Sunday morning. The video depicts a white student, who broke into a black student’s room, urinating on the latter’s belongings.

The committee has condemned the act of racism and discrimination, and directed the university leadership, led by Vice Chancellor Professor Wim de Villiers, to ensure that all due disciplinary processes are followed in addressing this dehumanising and totally unacceptable behaviour.

“The committee visited the University of Stellenbosch on 16 February 2022 to receive a briefing on the institution’s transformation journey thus far. This incident qualifies the committee’s concern regarding the institution’s state of transformation,” said committee chairperson, Nompendulo Mkhatshwa.

The committee also noted the call made by the university’s Student Representative Council (SRC) for overt acts of racism and discrimination to be addressed institutionally.

It also called upon the university to conclude its investigation of the incident with speed and make its findings public to reassure the country that it strives for an inclusive student community.

“Justice must prevail for the affected student and the committee charges the university to ensure that they receive the mental health care they need, considering the loathsome ordeal they experienced. 

“The committee calls upon the management of the University of Stellenbosch, the SRC and the student community to forge alliances to build a non-racial and inclusive institution,” Mkhatshwa said.

She added that the committee would engage with the university leadership and the Department of Higher Education and Training on this matter.

De Villiers said the residence management strongly condemned the incident and has taken steps to manage the repercussions in the residence.

“We are appalled by this type of behaviour [and] such conduct will not be tolerated at the university. We acted swiftly and decisively to uphold our commitment to a culture of inclusivity.

“What happened at Huis Marais is not acceptable. No student has the right to diminish another student’s human dignity or rights in this way,” De Villiers said. 

SA NEWS

WENDY MOTHATA|

PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa says child support grants, fee-free basic education and school feeding schemes have been a lifeline for many indigent families in South Africa.

The president said these government initiatives have helped keep millions of South African children in school and thus less vulnerable to exploitation.

Ramaphosa delivered the keynote address at the 5th International Labour Organisation Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal.

In his opening line, Ramaphosa said: “The rights of children are enshrined in our Bill of Rights. The Constitution places obligations on all, including the state, to advance the rights of children to a name and a nationality. It places an obligation on us to advance their rights to care, basic nutrition, shelter, health care and social services. The Constitution enshrines the right of children to be protected from ill-treatment, neglect, abuse or degradation.”

He said for many, the words ‘child labour’ conjure up images of young people working in sweatshops and informal factories.

“We have all seen the terrible and heartrending images of children, some as young as six, labouring in mines across the African continent. But there is also a hidden face that many do not get to see. It is the children in domestic servitude to families and relatives, prevented from attending school because they have to do household work,” said Ramaphosa.

“It is the children of labour tenants on farms fulfilling exploitative agreements with farm owners, where the entire family must work on the land in exchange for the right to live on it. It is the many, many children, male and female, who are bought and sold in the international sex trade, the worst of all forms of exploitation.”

The president said the country must attain universal access to social protection, with a specific focus on children and the most vulnerable.

“By providing a basic floor of support for families with children, we can reduce the need for children to be put to work, whether in the home or elsewhere,” said Ramaphosa.

Ramaphosa added that child labour co-exist with migration flows and socio-economic instability in developing economies.

“We know that child labour co-exists with migration flows and socio-economic instability in developing economies. In a climate where millions are prepared to brave the harshness of deserts and rough seas in search of a better life, the risk of children being exposed to exploitative labour practices is high,” he said.

“The reality is that our prospects for eliminating child labour and achieving decent work are limited unless we change the structure of the global economy and the institutions that support it.”

INSIDE EDUCATION

THE National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) will be allocated a R49 billion budget in the 2022/23 financial year.

Delivering his 2022/23 Budget Vote on Thursday, Higher Education, Science and Innovation Minister, Dr Blade Nzimande, said the allocation affirms government’s commitment to financially support students from poor and working class backgrounds, “whilst also putting a sustainable mechanism in place to support students from the so-called ‘missing middle’ and postgraduate students”. 

Nzimande said the National Skills Fund will also provide budget support for scholarships and bursaries for the 2022/23 financial year amounting to R866 million.

The figure is made up of R221 million to the National Research Foundation (NRF)), R527 million to the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), R80 million to the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) and R37.9 million to the DHET Internal Scholarship .

Collectively, the Minister said, Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) spent R701.9 million in support of the missing middle students.

He said various bursaries and loan schemes administered within institutions are another source of funding.

“As part of the development of our Comprehensive Student Funding model… we are engaging both the public and private components of the financial sector to come up with a funding model to support students in the ‘Missing middle’ income bracket and post graduate students who cannot secure funding from the National Research Foundation”.

Nzimande said the Ministerial Task Team is already engaging the Banking Association of South Africa and significant progress had been made in this regard.

The Ministerial Task Team is expected to present its final report to the Minister by the end of May this year.

Improving the sector 

Across the 26 universities, over the 2022/23 and 2023/24 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), there is a R7.584 billion budget, with R2.953 billion going towards student housing for the delivery of 16 858 beds across 11 universities.

Of these, 15 898 are new beds and 960 are refurbished beds.

Nzimande acknowledged that more needs to be done.

“Clearly R2.953 billion is inadequate for student accommodation, therefore we will seek private sector partnerships, including those already indicating they are investing on their own.”

The ministry, Nzimande said, will in the current financial year explore feasibility studies on the new science and innovation universitie,s and a crime detection institution to the value of R6 million.

He said he had revitalised and expanded the Imbali Education and Innovation Precinct project as a pilot to explore and test an alternative modality of education delivery, based on closer multi-educational institutional co-operation and closer articulation, with science and innovation linkages. 

This integration, Nzimande said, will ensure that the country produces a well- rounded student, ready to take up positions within the country’s economy and society.

For this project, R90 million will be allocated during the fourth Infrastructure and Efficiency Grant (IEG) cycles.

For the current MTEF, an allocation of R182.11 million has been recommended.

The next precinct to be established will be in Giyani, Limpopo, where a university campus will be set up. 

Government has set aside R10 million for the expansion and relocation of the University of Zululand teacher training faculty to the former Zululand Parliamentary Precinct at Ulundi. 

“We are also building the Sekhukhune Skills Development Centre to the value of R146.9 million, through our Wholesale and Retail SETA, in collaboration with the Sekhukhune TVET [Technical and Vocational Education and Training] College,” Nzimande said.

In the current financial year, the department had added a number of campus level projects to the TVET infrastructure initiative, with a R2.9 billion value.  

The ministry had a R130.1 billion budget in the 2022/23 financial year.

SA NEWS

ISSUES with mental health and wellbeing can stifle aspiration and prevent children from achieving their full potential. So creating a positive culture of wellbeing in schools is an imperative, and tackling loneliness and encouraging pupils to share experiences is at the very heart of this.

With good reason, loneliness is the theme of this year’s mental health awareness week. It can strike at any age, and it is inextricably linked to poor mental health.

In our hyperconnected world of social media, messaging apps and online gaming, young people may feel that everyone else is out there making friends, and that makes their loneliness even harder to bear. Add two long years of pandemic disruption (with increased reliance on these technologies), and the result is that children’s sense of isolation has heightened, with devastating effect on their wellbeing. According to NHS Digital, one in six children aged six to 16 in England had a probable mental health condition in 2021, up from one in nine in 2017.

The importance of shared experience

Many children find it difficult to articulate feelings of loneliness, or prefer not to admit to them. Reducing stigma as a barrier is an important reason for schools to encourage conversations about wellbeing.

Regular wellbeing events encourage an open dialogue among pupils, and that can stretch beyond the school gate. Inviting neighbouring schools to take part is an effective way to share the message and to bring pupils together with other young people in their community.

But it can’t be left to standalone activities. Rather than addressing mental health as a separate item on the agenda, embedding discussions about loneliness, anxiety or isolation into the curriculum helps to normalise the theme.

For example, a PSHE lesson on e-safety can open up discussion about how social media can paradoxically make us feel less connected, creating an opportunity for young people to talk openly about their feelings. Likewise, an English lesson about a character in a play can allow a quieter child to talk about loneliness without worrying that they may be giving too much away about themselves.

Taking a lead

But just discussing the issues is not enough, and it’s unreasonable to expect all teachers to be experts in tackling their pupils’ mental health challenges. Nevertheless, more than 400,000 under-18s were referred for specialist mental health support last year alone, and only one-third accessed the help they needed. This leaves school staff picking up the slack.

Appointing a mental health lead to direct children and staff to the support groups or resources they need can help. A senior member of staff tasked with championing wellbeing provides not only a first point of contact for children and staff who need support, but also a bridge to the school’s decision-making body.

And if that dedicated person also oversees pastoral services, they can reinforce a culture of wellbeing across the curriculum and send out a clear message that wellbeing is everyone’s priority.

Pupil voice

And on the topic of decision-making bodies, it is important to accept that the culture shift required to improve wellbeing will need pupils’ buy-in. This ensures we avoid assumptions and don’t dictate what action we think is needed.

Many schools conduct wellbeing surveys, but simply asking pupils what support they need rarely gets to the crux of the matter. Instead, capture your school’s pupil voice by asking questions that enable you to take affirmative action. Asking “at what times during the school week do you feel stressed or lonely?” can direct specific initiatives such as mindfulness sessions or activities in breaktime. The pupils can then advise on what activities they would like.

Younger children respond well to questions like “what makes you a great friend?”. By discussing the results of these questions, children will start to recognise how their actions can build friendships and reduce loneliness for others.

We can alleviate the pain of loneliness for young people by changing the way wellbeing is supported and nurtured. It’ll take longer than a mental health awareness week, but what a truly positive legacy of the pandemic that could be.

SCHOOLSWEEK

LINDA CHISHOLM and DAVID FIG

SOUTH Africa’s stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine isn’t that surprising in light of its treatment of the Cold War in the school history curriculum and textbooks. In these it’s reflected as having had a negative impact on Africa.

The Cold War (1945-1990) ranged the United States and its allies against their rival nuclear superpower, the Soviet Union. What textbooks contain is significant for being the officially approved representation of the nation’s history. This “official knowledge” usually embeds social controversies in ways that favour ruling groups.

We recently contributed a chapter to a book about how the Cold War is being handled in history textbooks and classrooms worldwide. We examined selected textbooks for Grade 12 (the final year of senior secondary school) for the officially sanctioned images of the Cold War.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has once again caused fissures between “the west” and the Soviet Union’s principal successor state, the Russian Federation. The potential nuclear stand-off between them could be termed a new Cold War.

South Africa’s image of its own history as represented in the school curriculum and textbooks suggests that it is unlikely to result in a stance aligned with the west.

Choosing textbooks

Textbooks follow curriculum prescriptions closely but are also mediated by textbook writers’ own readings and understandings. Since 1994, the South African curriculum has been revised four times, including the latest COVID-induced “trimming”. These changes have not substantively altered the section on the Cold War.

After each revision, publishers are invited to submit textbooks for consideration in a national catalogue. Using criteria provided by the Department of Basic Education, teams of evaluators screen textbooks for the catalogue. Based on schools’ choices, provinces make selections from the list of approved textbooks.

We selected two textbooks – Focus History and New Generation History – from those topping the list for most provinces in 2016. We compared these with prominent apartheid-era textbooks.

Textbook representations of the Cold War

Under apartheid, the history curriculum was divided into two sections, international and South African history. Until 1982, the curriculum for international history included France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Japan and the United States, while neglecting the rest of Africa and the global south. From 1982, China, India, Vietnam, Latin America and independent African countries were included.

The Cold War was part of the section on international history. A 2018 study on textbooks’ views of Russia specifically showed that a fear of Communism was embedded in apartheid textbooks.

The post-apartheid curriculum revised this approach. The Cold War frames a section that begins with “Independent Africa” and moves on to “Civil Society Protests” (in the US and the UK) from the 1950s to the 1990s; “Civil Resistance in South Africa in the 1970s and 1980s”; “The Coming of Democracy in South Africa” and “Coming to Terms with the Past”. The section closes with “The End of the Cold War” and “Globalisation to the Present”. It thus integrates African and South African history into world history, within which the Cold War is central.

The curriculum specifies that “blame for the Cold War” be taught and learnt through the presentation of different interpretations and differing points of view.

Nonetheless, there is a new narrative. In both the curriculum and textbooks, the “baddies” are no longer the feared Communists. Instead, the then-superpowers, the US and the Soviet Union, representing different ideologies, are both seen as responsible for the Cold War and for creating spheres of interest and conflict through proxy wars. They are presented as manipulating more vulnerable states through extensive military and financial aid, espionage, propaganda, rivalry over technology, space, sport and nuclear races.

The section on Independent Africa compares the former Belgian Congo as “a tool of the Cold War” with the African socialism of Tanzania. It closes with the way Africa became drawn into the Cold War, using Angola as an example. The Soviet Union, the US, Cuba, China and South Africa were all involved militarily in Angola. The section on the Cold War ends with the West seen as becoming dominant.

The Cold War was a binary conflict between two blocs, but also generated a more independent, neutral position led by the Non-Aligned Movement, a mostly Afro-Asian bloc. The leaders tried to assert themselves as independent of the superpowers. This isn’t dealt with in the curriculum, but is an important dimension.

Although the role of Africa and Africans is more prominent than in apartheid-era textbooks, the current books position Africans as both passive victims of the superpowers and as fighters for freedom, imbued with agency and initiative.

South Africa’s current perspective on the Russia-Ukraine conflict claims to be in line with this as well as its own history of negotiated transition.

The question is how anticipated curriculum revisions will update treatment of the Cold War and contemporary conflicts. Curriculum designers and the writers of textbooks may wish to retain an emphasis on multiple perspectives.

This would enable the small minority of school students who study history to examine all sides of the complexities of the new Cold War so that they can decide on ethical issues for themselves.

(David Fig Honorary Research Associate, University of Cape Town)

(Linda Chisholm Professor of Education, University of Johannesburg)

THE CONVERSATION