*Unite in children's education to preserve the legacy of Nelson Mandela and have a national story to tell.*
* Writes Sive Madala Gumenge * This year's (13 February 2014) State of the Nation Address was very thought-provoking, where our President gave an account of the country's achievements since the dawn of our democracy, 20 years ago. Perhaps many expected him to do what neo-liberal media drives us to think, every time a President gives a national address; *"What have you done and what are you going to do?"* The depressing situation about this year's address is the absence of the person who started the "good story to tell"; the Late Father of our Nation, Dr. Nelson Mandela and it would have been very sentimental to share these stories in his presence. Another paining element is seeing the disfranchisement of Mandela's people by the neo-liberal media with its cheerleaders in the opposite bench of the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly. One would have thought insignificant politics and reducing of our national challenges to an individual was not going to be the order the day. However we would unite in the absence of Mandela and celebrate the "good story to tell" about his life and the life he began for South African people in 1994, so that South Africa doesn't become the country it was before 1994. *"At the risk of seeming ridiculous, let me say that the true revolutionary is guided by a great feeling of love. It is impossible to think of a genuine revolutionary lacking this quality*."-- Ernesto Guevara Perhaps as the South African National Democratic Revolution is unfolding into the second decade we need to be inspired by the words of one of the most celebrated revolutionaries in the world and begin to truly love our country, without any material interest. Therefore one does not think of anything greater than fighting very hard in making our education system better for the children of South Africa, on behalf of Nelson Mandela. *"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world"*, Nelson Mandela was educated and it is critical for citizens to put more effort in making sure that education in South Africa becomes a champion, so that we can proudly say, we lived the aspirations of our icon. During this year of celebrating 20 years of democracy, we need to drive common objectives and plea for common outcomes without attacking each other. We need to refrain from individualism and strive for collectivism. Almost every community in our country has a school but the critical question, is: 'how many of us are contributing to the success of the schools and children in them, besides playing the blame game towards the ANC? We should not forget the effort of ANC in addressing the structural challenges like shortage of resources and infrastructure in working class communities. Dr. Nick Taylor of the National Education Evaluation and Development Unit (NEEDU) commented last year that levels of literacy in our primary schools are a "national catastrophe" and the DA government in the Western Cape, tried its best to destroy Mandela's vision by wanting to close down schools. The best form of contributing would be for those who are literate to adopt a group of primary school children and take an hour of their time and assist them in improving their literacy at least once a week. Furthermore, we must be active participants in school governing bodies in our communities and be interested in the teaching and learning in those schools. We need strong and capacitated SGB's and Representative Councils of Learners (RCLs) that are going to ensure that there is an improvement in quality of our education; ensure good governance and our schools serve the interests of the community and meet expectations of parents; assist in spreading the cost of education across users and society as a whole and to combat racism, sexism and all other forms of unfair discrimination and intolerance. SGBs are accountable to the school community and should work with dedication and commitment to create the conditions to achieve quality learning and teaching in all our schools. The government of Nelson Mandela has built about 370 new schools and we have a responsibility to maintain the infrastructure of those schools so that teaching and learning can happen in a conducive environment. *"Education is the great engine of personal development. It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that the son of a mineworker can become the head of the mine that a child of farm workers can become the president of a great nation. It is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another*."- Nelson Mandela Inter alia, there has been an outcry about the conduct of teachers inside and outside school time, but we don't take action as members of society in changing that. Many would socialize with educators in taverns till Sunday evenings knowing very well that, the person has a responsibility of educating someone's child the next day but we are not bothered with that. We must start by being realistic about asserting the culture of a caring nation, not only in word but also in deed. We can never reemphasis that Bantu education under apartheid was formulated to deliberately undermine human dignity and to corrode the capacity for creative and new thinking, which undermined the possibilities of learning for most young South Africans. That act eroded the meaning of teaching and learning. And this is a call to action to restore dignity and pride to learning and teaching. Therefore as responsible citizens we have a collective responsibility towards the success of the education of our children; the time for blame games towards government is over. Perhaps we must start contributing by educating our children about the core values of nation building at our homes and churches. Furthermore reintroduce reading clubs in schools and communities to assist with emphasizing the culture of reading and learning. *"Our children are the rock on which our future will be built, our greatest asset as a nation. They will be the leaders of our country, the creators of our national wealth, those who care for and protect our people."*- Nelson Mandela *Sive Madala Gumenge* is serving as Head of Education in ANCYL Dullar Omar RTT, a member of Young Communist League and a NEHAWU Branch Secretary of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) and holds a BTech degree in Business Administration from CPUT. (Writing in my personal capacity) -- *Sive Madala Gumenge* *Head of Education* *African National Congress Youth League* *Dullah Omar Region (Cape Metro)* *Western Cape Province* *083 7172 635 or 076 8945 800* -- -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. 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