For Hector Pieterson and the 16 June Children of Soweto

The entire continent of Africa celebrates the International Day of the African Child on June 16, every year. This day has been celebrated since 1991, when it was first initiated by the then Organization of African Unity (now the African Union). The Day was established in honour of all those who participated in the Soweto Uprising of June 16, 1976. It also raises awareness of the continuing need for improvement of the education provided to African Children. But 36 years after the Soweto Uprising and 21 years after the International Day of the African Child was first celebrated we Africans need to ask our leaders some pertinent and radical questions because it appears that the force that the children of Soweto fought against is still alive and kicking today. 

On the fateful June 16, 1976, about ten thousand black children peacefully marched in a column more than half a mile long in protesting against the poor quality of their education and demanding their right to be taught in their own language. But the apartheid South African Government forces opened gunfire on these innocent souls, killing some and injuring many in the process. Hundreds more were killed and more than a thousand injured in the two-week protests that followed this brutal June 16 police action. Hector Pieterson (see image), who was the first to be killed, remains the most famous of these courageous African children.

First victim: Lifeless Hector Pieterson is carried by a sympathetic teenager

But if Hector Pieterson rose from the dead today, would he be contented that his blood has yielded the intended fruits? The honest answer remains a loud no, just like it was in 1991 when the day was first celebrated. Today the standard of education remains poor in most African countries and the majority of African children are still alienated in institutions of learning which are meant to serve them. African schools have never been friendly to the child and our education continues to serve the interests of political leaders and not the children for whom it is designed. In this 21^st Century, our children continue to have a cosmetic representation in curriculum development forums even though they have a direct interest in education. The  concept of inclusive education is very strange to Africa and there are very few schools on the continent, which offer the child friendly Montessori type of education.

Take me to a country where education services are offered in the best interest of the child and I will take you to African schools where learners are forced to converse in English or French only, although these are not their mother languages. Learners get punished for seeking clarification of a scholarly point in their own mother language. This means that learners will have to fight a two-front war in order to acquire knowledge; they have to grapple with the second language all the time before wrestling with the concept at hand. Believe you me, they will always come second class to those who are taught in their mother language. Isn’t this the very thing the children of Soweto fought against? 

I am not saying that our education should be in vernacular, but our teachers should ensure that the learners are able to understand the concepts well. They can communicate in vernacular if they want to drive a point home. Remember, teaching and learning just like any communication process has to be dynamic and complete. Today I pay a belated homage to Pieterson and all the 16 June Children of Soweto, but my heart grieves upon realizing that their rebellion and eventual deaths have been taken for granted. May the souls of these courageous children of the African soil rest in eternal peace.

Below I have published my poem which I recited as a student at Civo Stadium in Lilongwe, Malawi, during the fourth celebration of the International Day of the African Child. You will find out that the issues addressed in the poem are as fresh as they were in 1994.

African Child

Wake up African Child.

The sun is peeping

through the window

of your dark cubbyhole.

Wake up African Child.

For how long will you sleep in a coma

with dreams of better days

hidden inside your pillow?

Wake up African Child.

Bask in the warm glow of education

to arm yourself with confidence

as the going gets tough.

Wake up African Child.

Let your wings grow

and fly so high

to the heights of the skies.