WHAT EDUCATION?

''There is no space for him [the "Native"] in the European Community above certain forms of labor. For this reason it is of no avail for him to receive training which has its aim in the absorption of the European Community, where he cannot be absorbed. Until now he has been subjected to a school system which drew him away from his community and misled him by showing him the greener pastures of European Society where he is not allowed to graze. (quoted in Kallaway, 92)''- Words by Hendrik Verwoerd, widely regarded as the architect of Apartheid.

What education, in our time we were taught how to communicate in English and treat is the most important subject after math, this is how my early teachers would equate intelligence, by how well you could speak in the 'Queen's tongue.' After that, my education was very much steeped in theoretical understandings and knowledge, there was little in the way of practicalities or even laboratory experiments.

This hinders the trajectory of the child in school but also absolutely cripples the economy by advocating for an essentially rigid workforce that is unable to pivot and think on their feet in times of pressure or a changing environment. Verwoerd and the Bantu education system had the same thing in mind when they put in place the Bantu education system which saw the Black 'Native' as only the operator of the mill and the drawer of water.

My arguement is that our current system is not that different, we have a very much narrow vission of what works without understanding or caring to view the multifaceted nature of economic growth.

The last time I checked, artisanal work in vastly economically developed countries like the U.S is in high demand with the skilled workers fetching an high earning rate. In my Lesotho, the last I checked, artisanal skills were looked down and work was not respected unless you wore a suit and a tie.

I would maintain that this way of thinking is archaic and will not present us with any solutions as our formal sector is only increasing with minimal ports of entry. What is needed from an early age is apprenticeship qualifications, a learn-to-do approach that appreciates all children not just those that show promise in the classroom, we have the doers, the athletes, the electricians, the woodsmiths, the singers etc... what about them...?