By Gcina Ntsaluba
In Makhanda, where Rhodes University stands as a beacon of learning, Rod Amner has found his calling at the intersection of journalism and education activism. Amner, who teaches at the Rhodes School of Journalism and Media Studies (SJMS), believes that hyper-local media holds the key to meaningful social change.
Since 2015, when Professor Sizwe Mabizela took over as Vice-Chancellor at Rhodes University, the town has witnessed a remarkable educational transformation. Through partnerships with schools, high-functioning NGOs like Gadra Education and the Lebone Centre, along with university institutions, a comprehensive pipeline of intervention has emerged – from early childhood development through post-matric support.
“The most exciting possibilities for local journalism in this town are in the education sphere,” Amner explains. “That’s where civic alliances are having an extraordinary, outsized effect on educational outcomes. I think we’re an outlier city when it comes to that.”
The results speak for themselves. Makhanda’s matric results have improved markedly, while literacy interventions at some primary schools have yielded spectacular improvements. These local innovations, Amner argues, offer models that could benefit the entire country, particularly given South Africa’s struggle with what he calls “one of the most daunting literacy/education challenges on the planet.”
But Amner’s activism extends beyond reporting. He sits on the Circle of Unity education cluster and on the boards of education NGOs, blurring traditional journalistic boundaries by working directly on educational solutions. “Maybe some people would raise their eyebrows at that,” he admits. “Maybe I’m too close. But the value of being inside is fantastic because you suddenly realise just how broad-based the effort is.”
His students facilitate reading, writing and media clubs with learners from two local high schools as part of their coursework, and they are writing a host of education-related stories for the SJMS-owned local newspaper, Grocott’s Mail and for the Mail & Guardian in Johannesburg.
His critique of mainstream education journalism is pointed. A recent national Think Tank he convened revealed that while Eastern Cape education reporting is voluminous, it’s often “episodic” and “ineffectual” – focusing on crisis without solutions, leaving audiences cynical and disengaged. “There’s nothing in the story that suggests what they can do to find a solution,” he observes.
Amner envisions a different model: journalists who specialise deeply in education, taking time to understand complex issues rather than chasing headlines. An inspiration comes from an American education journalist who spent seven years investigating literacy problems – the kind of sustained focus that can genuinely transform understanding.
In Makhanda, Rod Amner continues his mission to prove that local journalism, when properly focused and sustained, can drive meaningful educational change while serving as a model for the nation.
