Amnesty International - "Amnesty International - Verwoerd: SA’s new face of educational reform"

Hendrik Verwoerd, notorious as South Africa’s ‘architect of apartheid’ and engineer of Bantu education, may be the last face you’d expect to see on Amnesty International South Africa’s ‘right to education’ campaign.

Yet, this past month Verwoerd’s smiling face has been plastered across billboards, newspapers and screens across the country. This is because, more than 25 years after the end of apartheid, the state of South Africa’s education system is still so poor that if Verwoerd looked back now he’d be smiling. The hard-hitting campaign calls on South Africans to stand together and #SignTheSmileOff Verwoerd’s face because “if we don’t get behind education, we are fulfilling his legacy.” Signing the petition gives participants the satisfaction of seeing Verwoerd’s smile turn into a frown.

Through the campaign, Amnesty International aims to have SA’s shocking state of education tabled for debate in parliament and to petition our current leadership to guarantee all South Africa’s children their constitutional right to a quality basic education.

The campaign exposes some alarming stats to support its case: 78% of SA’s Grade 4 learners cannot read for meaning in any language; 61% of Grade 5 learners cannot add or subtract; thousands of learners are taught in run-down and overcrowded classrooms and pupils at 18% of the country’s schools are forced to use pit latrines, resulting in a number of tragic deaths in recent years. The cumulative result is that almost 50% of learners enrolled in Grade 1 drop out by Grade 12, and only 14% of the initial number qualify for university.

“If Verwoerd looked back now, he'd be pleased to see that more than two decades into our democracy, South Africa’s education system still mirrors the apartheid years,” said Shenilla Mohamed, Executive Director of Amnesty International South Africa. “Our vision is simple. All children have the right to a decent quality primary and secondary education. Being able to read and do simple maths can be a ticket out of poverty, and a chance to build a better life. By coming together, we can wipe the smile off Verwoerd’s face and erase his legacy forever.”

Amnesty International hopes to spread a positive message of change, giving South Africans an opportunity to play an active part in finally having their pleas for a decent education heard.”