Victoria Girls' High School turned off its lights, adopted a hand bell and had lessons outside the classrooms on 4 May, in solidarity with the national Equal Education campaign.
Victoria Girls' High School turned off its lights, adopted a hand bell and had lessons outside the classrooms on 4 May, in solidarity with the national Equal Education campaign.
The aim is to pressure the government to adapt and implement Minimum Norms and Standards for School Structure in all schools, especially those that are severely under-resourced and lack proper infrastructure.
“The fun aspect isn’t what we want you to see today,” said Warren Schmidt, principal of the school. “There’s a much bigger picture”. Dr Sarah Hanton, a teacher at the school and coordinator of the school’s “low-resources lessons” solidarity campaign, got the entire school of over 400 students to participate in the cause, after learning about the campaign.
“We can use this [simulation]to raise awareness of this campaign locally and get the kids to empathise with the situation and to understand it,” Hanton said.
Equal Education is both a campaign and an organisation dedicated to raising awareness of the harsh realities some children in the nation face daily. These include overcrowded classrooms, a lack of desks and chairs and poor or no toilet facilities.
“It was rather uncomfortable for me,” said Nontayatyambo Nkone, a Grade 9 pupil, who had her first lesson in the school hall instead of her usual classroom. “We did what we had to do, although it was rather difficult without any desks or chairs, and the lights were off.”
Some pupils also had to share desks and chairs, and they were allowed only a pen or pencil and a few sheets of paper for their lessons. On 5 March Equal Education filed an application in the Bhisho High Court against Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga in a bid to pressurise her to pass the Minimum Norms and Standards for School Structure.
Teachers and pupils at Victoria Girls' High School expressed the hope that their participation in the campaign would spur other schools in the province to do the same. “The more people know about [the campaign], the more people do something about it, the more likely the government is to do something about it,” said Hanton.
