1. 18 • ACHIEVER • ADVERTORIAL20 • ACHIEVER • ADVERTORIAL
A
cademic, businesswoman, medical doctor, author,
anti-apartheid activist and Chairperson of Edu-
Loan, Dr Mamphela Ramphele is one of South
Africa's most remarkable women, serving as a
role model to every young woman. She is passionate about
South Africa and the young generation.
Education plays an important part in the lives of the young
generation, speaking to Dr Ramphele one finds that education
is another subject that is close to her heart. South Africa has
implemented the Further Education and Training Curriculum
which has been surrounded by much controversy and has
sparked much interest in terms of how the Grade 12 learners will
fare in this year's first National Senior Certificate final exam. When
asked about her thoughts on the education system in SouthAfrica
and whether it adequately prepares learners for the workplace or
tertiary education, Dr Ramphele simply replies, "Ashort answer is
'no', based on a whole range of indicators".
One of these indicators is the international tests that had
been conducted to see how South African learners were faring
compared to the rest of the world. It emerged that South Africa
was ranked last out of a total of 45 countries.
Furthermore, the curriculum implemented by South African
schools has failed in most countries.The Apartheid legacy has
also played a role in the type of education system that has been
implemented. Looking back, it is evident that Black SouthAfricans
were subjected to an inferior education system that was designed
to make learners feel inferior and adopt a mindset that they could
not amount to anything. Today's government has attempted to
replace the former Bantu education system, with one that has
not demonstrated that it challenges learners to seek answers to
unanswered questions.
Dr Ramphele points out, however, that teachers of the Bantu
education era were inspired and dedicated. They were willing
to go the extra mile when it came to their learners – extramural
activities were offered, tutoring was given, amongst others.
Today many SouthAfrican teachers see themselves as workers
– 88% of them are unionised. Many of them have withdrawn
themselves from the education system and left their learners to
figure out for themselves the way forward.
In addition, many South African children go to school carrying
an enormous burden. "We have 1.5 million Aids orphans in this
country and many of them are from child-headed households",
says Dr Ramphele. Most of these children are at primary school
level, they have no one to turn to and the community shuts them
out. Inevitably, they are left to fend for themselves, which is
discouraging. South Africa has also seen an increase in teenage
pregnancies and HIV/Aids infection rate among the youth. Like the
teachers the youth, too, are withdrawing themselves from school
because no real leadership is in place. When learners check out
of the system, it is to be expected that the unemployment rate
will be alarmingly high. To this Dr Ramphele says, "If you look at
the world, the common feature that accounts for people moving
from poverty to prosperity is education". Everything is linked to
education – without a good education, one may find it difficult to
succeed in life. Dr Ramphele feels that ordinary citizens have let
teachers get away with providing their children with an inferior
quality education. It seems that a large part of the population is
"tired, due to demotivation". In 1994 when the first democratic
election was held, there was so much energy, which now seems
to have "evaporated". Ordinary South Africans need to stand up
and be leaders in their communities and various sectors, she says.
She wants to see visionary leadership in the country: those with
the capacity need to assist in creating sustainable, prosperous
companies that will drive the growth of the economy and create
jobs. Currently, Dr Ramphele's focus is on creating a climate of
excellence, in the way that South Africans conduct themselves.
She believes that without strong leadership, nothing significant
can happen, neither can anything change for the better. She says,
"There is a tragic failure of leadership in our society, not just at a
political level, but in the private sector and civil society, in families
and communities". Another subject that is of importance to South
Africa is youth development, many programmes have been put in
place in an attempt to decrease the number of unemployed youth
on our streets. Dr Ramphele says, however, that this has not
been sufficient; the government has failed the youth and failed to
understand what it is that the youth require. This, she says, is due
to the way in which youth development has been approached.
"We approach youth programmes to get rid of a problem rather
than to recognise it in terms of the demographics".
To this end, South Africa needs to find the right people who have
displayed an understanding of the youth and who can create
suitable programmes that will assist them to succeed.
Poverty, and the crime associated with it, are the order of the day
in many parts of the country – a moral decline – which affects both
old and young. Dr Ramphele is of the opinion that "at what point
we did have good morals and then they degenerated". She goes
on to say that when people live in poverty, bad things should be
expected to happen. "Our country at present doesn't punish crimes
but welcomes it.Asafe environment for all needs to created where
law and order is respected." This will lead to safer communities and
safer schools, where the youth will be able to get a good education
in a sheltered environment that is conducive to learning – which in
turn will lead to a decrease in crime and poverty. South Africans
need to be instilled with a renewed passion, says Dr Ramphele,
so that they can have a clear goal and focus, creating a culture of
confidence and self-respect. There are ways and means for the
youth to achieve their objectives; it's simply a matter of having the
will and desire to make a change.
Tamara Toti
A woman of substance
"Never underestimate the power of a few committed individuals
to change the world" – Margaret Mead