As South Africans and the world pay their final tribute to former President Nelson Mandela, his contribution to education is set to continue to benefit many young minds long after he has departed.
Nowhere is this more evident than in his home village of Qunu, situated south west of Mthatha, where he has turned several rundown schools into modern day education facilities.
During his tenure as President, Mandela used his influence to woo donors to the former Transkei where they could help him build new classrooms and move children out of dilapidated mud structures.
One of the schools to have benefited from Madiba’s interest is Qunu Junior Primary, which was turned into a modern school with state-of-the-art computer and biology laboratories after his visit to the school in 1996.
The school, on the other side of a hill from Qunu, also happens to be the very first primary school Mandela attended at the age of seven. Unlike its current form, during Mandela’s days, the school consisted of a single room with a Western style roof.
The anti-apartheid icon paid several visits to the school after it was renovated and at one point he invited a couple of its learners to his Johannesburg home for one of his birthday celebrations.
“His association with the school and the contributions he made is what keeps us strong and we are a very proud school indeed,” Principal Zwelethemba Mki told SAnews. “He has done a lot for us and other schools in the area and for that, he has become such a motivation to the kids here.”
According to Mki, Mandela had personally telephoned him to urge all teachers to ensure that all learners were computer literate from as early as Grade 1. “He said look, you have everything you want, now just make sure the learners are equipped with all the knowledge they need. They must use computers at a very early age.”
Not far from Qunu Primary is the Nkalane Junior Secondary School, which overlooks Mandela’s extensive homestead. The school’s old mud buildings have also been replaced with classrooms.
A multi-million rand technical school has also been built in Qokolweni village, situated about 20km from Mthatha and about 15km from Qunu. The school caters for more than 1 000 pupils from 10 surrounding villages and townships, and doubles as a night school for adult literacy classes and a community skills training centre.
Here, learners described Mandela as an icon who had changed their future for the better.
“I cannot even describe how grateful we are to have had someone like him … he changed our lives, he changed the way we thought about ourselves and most importantly, he showed us that in life you can achieve anything irrespective of your back ground,” said Grade 8 learner Samkelo Gebengu at the time of the interview.
For him and fellow pupil, Thobani Sandla, the name Nelson Mandela serves as an inspiration and motivation to reach for the stars.
Thobani said: “Even though some of us may not necessarily follow the same path in politics, Tata’s respect for education speaks volumes about him and we will always keep that at the back of our minds.” – Chris Bathembu, SAnews.gov.za
Alan Straton
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