Equal Education Teaching and Learning Summit 2016
On 17-18 June 2016, Equal Education will host a National Summit on Education in South Africa to mark the 40th anniversary of the student uprisings of 1976. This is a critical moment to assess the progress which has been made in education; look frankly at the challenges which persist and strategise on a way forward. Over 200 Equal Education members which include learners, parents and teachers will gather to deliberate on the questions arising out of this landmark moment as well as develop an education charter. The aim of the education charter is to capture the voices of a broad swath of South Africans in envisioning what a decolonized, equal and quality education system should look like. We will be joined by prominent education officials, academics and activists who will address and engage the delegates in robust discussion over the course of the two day summit.
Equal Education is a national activist movement of learners, parents and teachers fighting for an equal and quality education for all South Africans through analysis and activism. EE has over 3000 members across the country who meet on a weekly basis in branch meetings to engage on and organize around critical issues in education. Since it was founded in 2008, EE has won important victories at local school and national policy levels with the purpose of ensuring the full realisation of the right to basic education, which is enshrined in our Constitution. Most notably, after over 3 years of EE campaigning for policy to determine basic school infrastructure regulations, these were signed into law by the Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga in 2013. We continue to monitor and organize around the implementation of this infrastructure policy, while engaged in various education issues from school admission requirements to the dismal provision of scholar transport in rural areas.
Under the banner of “40 years since ’76: The Struggle for Quality Education continues” delegates to the national summit on 17-18 June will engage on the following topics:
- Soweto 1976: Uprising that changed South Africa
- Education since Liberation: Critical reflection
- Teachers for Equal Education: A critical discussion about teacher professionalism, unionisation, conditions of work and remuneration
- Fix Our Schools: Focusing on school infrastructure, textbook provision and scholar transport
- Education and Equality: Focusing on differential access to education based on finance, admissions policy, geography and resources broadly
- From Bantu Education to Decolonised Education: A critical look at curriculum
- Early Childhood Underdevelopment
- Organising for Education: Looking at methods of struggle and what we’ve learnt in 8 years of organising
