My daughter and son go to a school where learners are 100 per cent black. The governing body and principal also are black. But teachers are predominantly white. And so is culture. Interestingly, black parents seem to be okay with the white culture dominating at school. I’m not okay with that.
What this suggests is that we blacks don’t influence other races’ (particularly white) culture. Instead, the opposite is true. Otherwise how do you explain this scenario where learners are 100 per cent black but the culture remains white?
The same situation plays itself out in other former white public schools, where black learners are now a majority. English and Afrikaans remain the medium of instruction. As a result, our kids express themselves better in English. Some can’t even speak native languages. Instead, they look down on them.
I’m aware that many black parents are comfortable with their kids using the Queens’ language as a medium of instruction at school. It is their right and they have their own reasons. But do they understand the importance of a mother tongue?
Afrikaners seem to understand the importance of a mother tongue better. They fight tooth and nail to keep their language alive, even when it is not under threat. We still have universities that teach in Afrikaans. Yet there is none that teaches in African languages.
Education shapes the mind of a people. If it is delivered in English, people tend to see things through the English prism, and adopt the English culture.
When that happens, the non-English nation loses its identity. It seems we are already in the process of losing ourselves.
Back to the main issue. It’s time that black people who serve in the governing bodies of former white public schools shake up things a bit. We cannot have white culture dominating in schools where blacks are a majority.
Not after 22 years of our hard-earned democracy.
The truth is that I hardly attend meetings at my children’s school.
The same applies to many other parents, especially fathers. This robs us of an opportunity to make an invaluable contribution to the education of our kids.
Not only that, but also to influence other things such as the school culture.
But talking on the sidelines doesn’t really help. So this year I have committed myself to attending school meetings. That may not change many things but at least I’ll be able to voice my concerns using the relevant platform. And the concerns are so many.
