SPECIAL REPORT • CATHOLIC SCHOOLS

Weathering the Challenges of Time Catholic Education in South Africa: The Last Decade and Today

Contrary to what some people may think, the findings over 10 years of data on the network of Catholic schools show that the number of learners has increased and that the network is still the second largest provider of public education after the State

BY Janice Seland | Director of the Catholic Institute of Education (CIE), Johannesburg

THE CATHOLIC network made up of 326 schools, provided education for 172 857 learners and was served by 7 859 educators in 2021. Importantly for South Africa, still overcoming the legacy of Apartheid, 92% of the learners attending Catholic schools come from historically disadvantaged groups with a positive bias of 53.66% female learners. Catholic education is of course always more than the numbers, but with ten years of data since the implementation of the schools database at the Catholic Institute of Education (CIE), there are some really interesting observations which confirm the very essence of why the Church in education is so powerful.

While a common view across the globe is that the Catholic School has gone past its peak and there tends to be nostalgic sentiments to the time when religious ran our schools and the majority of learners were Catholic, a quick glance at Catholic education in South Africa could easily be misinterpreted to be following the global norm. Over the last decade, the network has seemingly declined in schools from a peak of 342 to the now 326. Furthermore, the percentage of Catholic learners has stayed steady at 21% of all learners in the schools. The comment can sometimes be heard even beyond schools, ‘are Catholic institutions that no longer serve or are served by Catholics actually Catholic?’ Doubt has seemingly always been a feature of our faith, whether we are the famous doubting disciple Thomas, or on a boat in a storm, we are constantly surrounded by doubt, but fortunately for every moment where we exhibit so little faith, there is so much faith around us.

An overall positive trend

With great pleasure, we share the findings of the 10-year review of data which definitively answers yes, our schools are and can be Catholic without serving and being served by Catholics only. The major cause of the decreased number of schools from 342 to 326 has been the amalgamation of primary and secondary schools into combined schools. Schools that previously were single gender also became universal, thereby removing the old separation and becoming single entities. The laicization of the schools, a feature that sometimes received an unfair share of doubt, paved the way for more consolidated entities. Where previously schools run by the religious may have had multiple entities to accommodate specific skills sets of readily available religious, the move to lay leadership meant raising more financial resources and centralizing schools. While two schools that existed 10 years ago have now been closed, four new schools were opened, so the Catholic schools network gained schools. This is unsurprising when one then looks at actual learner numbers which has increased from 169 662 to 172 587 over the course of the last 10 years. If there has been an actual and significant decline in schools (16 less schools) one would have expected a decrease in learner numbers as well.

Table 1 illustrates the growth in learner numbers. While there were spikes in 2014 and 2017 which were followed by huge dips, there is another reason for these. In South Africa the implementation of no-fee schools serving the poorest, occurred in phases which correlate to the dips, as some parents felt that no-fee schools would decline in quality. At the other end with high fee-paying schools, we have found that there has been a decline in enrolment linked strongly to the weakening of the South African economy and the cutting back by middle class families (sending children to less expensive schools) and, in some cases, emigration. However, the overall trend remains positive. The network continues to serve a respectable number of learners and is the second largest provider of public education after the State.

Quality education

An equally important finding is that 182 schools (55.8%) in the network showed a net positive growth over the decade. While other schools have seen a decline, the general view that the decline of Catholic education is universal is a myth, since over half of the schools in the network are growing in learner numbers. If one considers that the key reason for a parent to choose a Catholic school for their children is because of the identity and synonymous relationship between being Catholic and providing a quality education, it is clear that Catholic schools are attractive to all. This is particularly clear, when one considers that the majority of learners come from historically disadvantaged communities and while apartheid has formally ended, the majority of people still experience spatial apartheid, remaining in previously designated communities. For learners, this means that they have to travel to schools outside their community. Even though we do not have data at the learner level, based on recognized challenges to provide quality education expressed by owners and managers of schools, we know that many learners commute to a good Catholic school.

Committed lay teachers

On the leadership front, there is data evidence of a strong loyalty to the network. Fifty-five school principals (16.8%) have led their school for the whole decade, while 245 principals or (75%) have had more than seven years leading their respective schools. In total, the network benefits from 2 907 years of experience—counting the various schools—that provide a wealth of experience on how to run and maintain the essential Catholic ethos of the school.

A common debate during the laicization of schools was whether or not the lay teachers would be able to remain committed to one school and if careers could match vocations; but in fact, the clear evidence is that the excellent leaders in the network are extremely loyal to their schools. While it has become common in the 21st century for people to change careers, Catholic schools in South Africa are going against this trend.

To conclude, in reviewing 10 years of data on the Catholic education network, we can firmly state that Catholic schools are as popular—if not more—today than at the beginning of the decade. Over half the schools are still growing strongly and the universal appeal for these schools means that even where people need to commute, both Catholics and people of different faith backgrounds are willing to do it in order to have a quality education. The network is served by exceptionally loyal leaders who are mostly Catholic.

A common view is that the Church is in decline everywhere except in Africa, and often looks at South Africa as an exception to the continent. However, we are proud to say that the data on our schools shows that we are firmly within the future growth space of the Catholic Church.

YOUTH VOICES • FAITH EDUCATION

The Freedom of Learning

BY Jill A. Williams | Candidate Landscape Architect, Pretoria

ALBERT EINSTEIN (1879–1955) once said that “Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learnt in school”. This means that what is planted in one’s mind through formal or informal instruction must be liberating and not constricting, life-giving and not depleting; in this way what remains after school—the plant or tree of knowledge—will be able to do both the work of sowing freedom into other minds, and the work of being receptive to new seeds of formation or instruction.

“Freedom makes man responsible for his acts to the extent that they are voluntary. Immutability and responsibility for an action can be diminished or even nullified by ignorance, inadvertence, duress, fear, habit, inordinate attachments, and other psychological or social factors.” (Catholic Church 1998).

Basic education is similar to catechism as they are fundamental learning stages on the route to adulthood, in one’s faith, and into the society at large

Ignorance can lead to confusion, lack of knowledge, destruction and death, as seen in Hosea 4: 6: “my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children.” Jesus goes on to indicate that this is the chief purpose of the enemy, whereas Jesus Himself has come to give life in all its fullness (Jn 10: 10). There is a deceptive comfort that one could find in shrugging one’s shoulders and saying ‘I don’t know’. Although we cannot know all things in our limited capacity as human beings, we should not remain in a state of neutrality and passivity, as this can hinder our own growth and cause friction with those who do wish to progress in their knowledge and understanding of the world around them.

Exchange

Knowledge, however, is fluid: the remnants (education) of your formal or informal instruction and that of mine might not look the same. This can seem like a challenge, as one can struggle to communicate certain ideas to another if one’s pool of knowledge differs from theirs, but this can also be a great opportunity to expand one’s own knowledge base and access the remnants of others. As with the development of technology (think of the automobile, aircrafts, the telephone and many other technologies), what many people have developed and studied throughout their entire lives, can be developed and improved upon by someone else in a year, a month or even a day because of it. This must be part of what we were made for—to think fluidly; to learn freely.

Pope Benedict XVI, on 8 December 2005 said: “The person who abandons himself totally in God’s hands does not become God’s puppet, a boring ‘yes man’; he does not lose his freedom. Only the person who entrusts himself totally to God finds true freedom, the great, creative immensity of the freedom of good. The person who turns to God does not become smaller but greater, for through God and with God he becomes great, he becomes divine, he becomes truly himself. (Cardinal Schönborn 2011).

Basic education and catechism

Basic education in South Africa comprises Early Childhood Development centres (ECDs) for infants and toddlers, primary schools (grades 1–7) and secondary schools (grades 8–12). This lays the groundwork for further education in tertiary institutions such as universities and colleges. Many people, however, never go on to study in tertiary institutions. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD 2019), in 2018 only 7% of adults in South Africa had a tertiary education, far below the G20 average of 38%, thus increasing the importance of the quality and scope of the country’s basic education. This further impacts upon the type of skills and job opportunities available in a country that had an unemployment rate of 34.9% in the third quarter of 2021. (Stats South Africa 2021).

Many challenges exist within this sector including school dropouts due to teenage pregnancy, gangsterism, drug abuse and child-headed homes, as well as decaying infrastructure in various municipalities. However, the importance of education is not only stressed by parents in southern Africa, but in Africa as a whole. The challenges that come with gaining knowledge have unfortunately become the hurdles to obtaining the financial, social and intellectual freedom that comes with receiving formal instruction.

Children would probably wonder: ‘What is the use of school? What will I ever do in the future that involves Pythagoras?’ At the time, a learner might feel stressed from the constant pressure to know foreign concepts, but later on in life, one would smile when in the process of making a DIY kite or coffee table. In fact, Romanelli (2020) claims that our core beliefs are formed by the time we reach the age of seven (at the exit level for ECDs), thus school does play a major role in the way we think, feel and act. Therefore, we each would have found some sort of answer to even existential questions such as ‘do I have meaning?’ and ‘who am I?’ through the educational system and the interactions had during that timeframe.

Transmission of faith

The catechism of the Catholic Church speaks of “Human freedom in the economy of salvation: …as Christian experience attests especially in prayer, the more docile we are to the promptings of grace, the more we grow in inner freedom and confidence during trials … the Holy Spirit educates us in spiritual freedom in order to make us free collaborators in his work in the Church and in the world.” (Catholic Church 1988: 1742).

The importance of education is not only stressed by parents in southern Africa, but in Africa as a whole

Basic education is similar to catechism as they are both fundamental foundational learning stages that help one on the route to adulthood, in one’s faith, and into the society at large. Catechism is the Christian’s form of basic education. Here, instruction is given formally and informally. This happens through classes in which the Word of God and the dogma of the Church is explained and discussed with the students on a weekly basis, as well as through ordinary Christians teaching students how to live in Jesus’s footsteps every day, practically, by way of example. What one learns here is not only head-knowledge, but heart-knowledge, therefore the work of sowing good seed can be seen as doubly important, as the remnants of the instruction one has received can have eternal implications.

The catechetical journey

Teaching and learning happen in the classroom of both a catechist and a school teacher. However, in my personal experience, I have found two differences that made the catechetical journey far different from what I experienced in the formal education system. For one, both the catechist and the catechumen are part of the learning process during classes. At times, when I would teach my catechism class, there would be certain answers that students would give to difficult questions that would broaden my own perspective on these topics. I would always walk away from the lesson of the day feeling refreshed by the encounters and the engaging conversations had. This happens because in many cases, there are no black and white scenarios; there are many grey areas to living a Christian life. This is why St Paul advises us to “work out our salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2: 12). Secondly, there is no such thing as a top achiever when it comes to one’s faith. One can memorize scripture and decipher ancient texts till one is blue in the face, but grace remains grace because, as St Peter discovered, “God does not show favoritism, but welcomes those from every nation who fear Him and do what is right.” (Acts 10: 34, 35).

Catechism is an evangelical tool used by Jesus himself. At the current known location for the Sermon on the Mount, Mount Eremos, Jesus ‘…went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them.’ (Matthew 5: 1, 2). He not only taught the beatitudes, but lived it out in front of both those who loved and despised him. This echoes the prayer intention made by Pope Francis in December 2021: “Let us pray for the catechists, summoned to announce the Word of God: may they be its witnesses, with courage and creativity and in the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Pope Francis 2021).

Ongoing growth

“The more a person knows about the good and practises the good, the more he moves away from the slavery of sin (Rom 6: 17; 1 Cor 7: 22). God desires that such free persons should (be able to) take responsibility for themselves, for their environment, and for the whole earth.” (Cardinal Schönborn 2011).

Catechism is an evangelical tool used by Jesus himself

Learning is a life-long journey. As one grows, the knowledge obtained in one’s youth matures and deepens through experiences had at first hand and experiences learnt about through books, the news, a story told by one’s grandfather or a joke passed by a friend. One can never say that one comes to know everything. Once you have understood all that the land has to teach you, you’ll realise that there still lies an ocean, a sky and a universe full of unknown stories and wonders to discover.

PROFILE • excellence

Educate the Future Generation to be Co-Creators

Brother Peter Mokaya Tabichi, a Kenyan Franciscan friar, has turned around the lives of the pupils and the school itself through innovative teaching. This is the achievement of the recipient of the 2019 Global Teacher Prize

BY Marian Pallister | Chair of Pax Christi, Scotland

IF WE had not realised it before the COVID pandemic, the challenges of the past two years have thrown into sharp relief the disparity in the education experience offered to children from different backgrounds. Facilities, resources, the quality of teaching—the rule of thumb is that the poorer the area, the poorer these will be, all exacerbated by the pandemic.

A United Nations (UN) policy briefing on education during the pandemic and beyond says: “The COVID-19 pandemic has created the largest disruption of education systems in history, affecting nearly 1.6 billion learners in more than 190 countries and all continents.”

It adds that as the financial strains of the pandemic increase and overseas aid programmes are cut, financing education could become even worse and the gap could grow wider between rich and poor. To bridge the gap that existed pre-pandemic and has grown wider, the UN hopes that some of the innovations used to support education and training during the COVID crisis will be taken forward to deliver quality education to all in the future, leaving no one behind.

Innovative teaching

That policy briefing says, “We have also been reminded of the essential role of teachers”, and there is no denying that excellent teachers can be found inspiring children in the poorest of schools. That was affirmed when the Nobel Prize for teaching—the Global Teacher Prize—went in 2019 to Peter Mokaya Tabichi. Br Peter is a Franciscan friar who teaches science and maths at Keriko Mixed Day Secondary School in Pwani Village, in Kenya’s Nakuru County. Before and during the pandemic, Br Peter has been employing the kind of innovative teaching that must surely meet those hopes of the UN officials.

New African magazine nominated Tabichi as one of the top 100 most influential Africans in 2019. If they revisit what he is doing now, they might place him at the very top of the list.

Yet if you met this man on his way to school, riding a motorbike that has seen much better days, you wouldn’t easily place him on a podium in the United Arab Emirates impressing an international audience as he received his Global Teacher Prize. You would not imagine him making an impression in the US State House or at the UN in New York. Yet he has been there and done that and continues to be influential despite the challenges of the pandemic.

Talking with this gentle, thoughtful Franciscan, it is much easier to envisage him in the classroom, or working together with children and parents in the inspirational clubs he has initiated. These are the backdrop to pupils achieving their own moment in the spotlight, featuring in local media and even on YouTube. This is a man who has guided his pupils’ families throughout the pandemic—advising them on everything from how to engage with their children during lockdown to how to grow food in a sustainable way that will support them even during the third drought in a row. All this and he is still to reach his 40th birthday.

Overcoming challenges

Peter Mokaya Tabichi was born in Nyamira County in Kenya—known in 1982, the year of his birth, as Nyanza Province. It is an area to the east of where he now teaches science and mathematics, and is a more prosperous countryside where bananas and tea are grown. His father, uncles and cousins were teachers and he willingly followed in their footsteps, his faith leading him to take Holy Orders because he wanted to care for others.

Prioritise education and give it the support it requires

He first taught in a well-off private school. His beliefs guided him instead to Keriko—a school that had so little that many in the ‘developed’ world might have wondered if this could be a school at all. A school, however, that would be recognised by pupils, parents and teachers throughout Africa as the norm. There he found children who could not concentrate on lessons because they were hungry, their families unable to afford breakfast. Around 95% of pupils are living in poverty and some 30% either are orphans or from one-parent families. Some walk 7 km to school on difficult tracks.

These challenges will be familiar to teachers throughout Africa and many parts of the world. How to address those challenges is another matter entirely, but Br Peter has turned around the lives of the pupils and the school itself. He says that today, despite the pandemic, the fortunes of the Keriko School and the private school where he previously taught have been reversed.

How? No miracles have happened—indeed, the pandemic has made the families’ financial situation worse. He admits, “The parents are struggling to pay school fees, so sometimes there is low attendance.”

A Kenyan government vaccination programme has helped, but the teaching team at Keriko have found more girls staying at home, early marriages taking place, and teenage pregnancies halting girls’ school careers. A factor that teachers in all countries may recognise after lockdown is that there has been “a level of indiscipline we haven’t seen before”. He added, “When children came back after lockdown it was like they wanted freedom, so it’s hard for us to give them support—but as educators that is our role, to be creative and supportive.”

Supporter of gender equity

“Creative’ could be Br Peter’s middle name. Before the pandemic, he had set up the Talent Nurturing Club, a science club and a peace club. In 2018, Keriko equalled the best schools in the country at the Kenya Science and Engineering Fair, with his students showcasing a device they had invented to help blind people measure objects. In 2019, the Mathematical Science team qualified for the INTEL International Science and Engineering Fair in Arizona, USA. There was also an award from the Royal Society of Chemistry for an electricity-generating project using local plant life. A girl who worked on that is now in America doing a science degree—and getting top grades. If only we all had a Br Peter teaching us science!

Some of these projects were halted during the pandemic, but Br Peter says lockdown came with a positive side in that the teaching team “took the initiative on how to approach the challenges. We had to reach out to them. We made some milestones.”

I believe that once they see that you believe in them, that you recognise their gifts, they work hard, working towards achieving their goal

It took some pushing to get Br Peter to admit that the prize money he received for the Global Teacher Award has financed many of the changes and innovations at the school. He certainly is very reluctant to say that 80% of his salary goes to the school and the community. It is always “We” not “I”, and so during the school closures “We took the initiative to give them low cost phones.” His excuse for using his own money is that arrangements had to be made quickly—and it comes as no surprise when he says, “When I won the award it was a chance to give back to the community.”

The phones were given to about 30 pupils, Internet connections were renewed every week, and lessons were able to continue. It has to be said that in some wealthier nations, provision of IT to help children during lockdown was not given so rapidly or with such immediate success.

Local media interviewed the young woman now studying in the US at the time of that experiment to make renewable energy and there is a video of that excited schoolgirl, so proud of her achievement. Br Peter says:
“Giving children that feeling of self-worth, whatever their intellectual capacity, is very important—you have to promote their self-confidence and raise their self-esteem to unlock their potential. I believe that once they see that you believe in them, that you recognise their gifts, they work hard, working towards achieving their goal.”

This is perhaps the most important key to teaching success that Br Peter offers—enabling children to believe in themselves. He says that the children who attend Keriko Mixed Day Secondary School come from very humble backgrounds and have very low academic entry marks. But he insists, “Every child has something they can do and shine at. They only need someone to believe in them.” That ‘something’ might be science, drama, poetry or any area of attainment.

He is also a great supporter of gender equity, despite local culture, saying, “I was very pleased to see that girls, once given the right support, can outclass the boys. They go above and beyond expectations.”

A caring heart

The quiet enthusiasm that Br Peter exudes is inspirational in itself. There are, however, those teachers, badly paid and over-stretched, who lack facilities and have any enthusiasm beaten out of them by the system. How can they imbue their pupils with self-confidence and belief?

Br Peter suggests, “It is our duty to do it. All of us are created for a reason. We are doing this to give a service.” His smile broadens. “A blessing.”

He warns, “If you are only guided by rewards, they may not happen and you will end up disappointed. I have a principle that the only one who sees what you are doing is God and if you do what you should, then God will bless you. The workload—it is a lot. The most important thing is it is a vocation, a calling, like being a religious. Then things will come. We should ask ourselves ‘Why are we doing what we are doing?’ Once we have the right vision, that will guide us.”

He believes in getting out of his comfort zone and facing and addressing challenges, achieving solutions with teamwork. Above all, he says, “You have to have that caring heart.”
At the time Br Peter received his 2019 award, he talked with world leaders. After the challenges of the past two years, what would he say to them now— what would he ask that they do for our children’s future?

Challenges can only be addressed if we educate the future generation to be co-creators, to be happy, and to make others happy. Then the world will be a peaceful place

There was no pause for thought. “Prioritise education and give it the support it requires,” he said. For Africa and other developing areas of the world, that support needs depth.

Education, he stressed, is not just about access, not just about Newton’s theory and trigonometry. It must be holistic and grounded in faith. Children must learn to be compassionate and caring, seeing themselves as part of the larger community.

He said, “If they are given support you will see them also become leaders able to deal with the challenges—so many challenges, such as the pandemic, climate change, increasing populations. These can only be addressed if we educate the future generation to be co-creators, to be happy, and to make others happy. Then you will see them shining like stars—and the world will be a peaceful place.”

FRONTIERS • VOCATION

• 

“My Dream Is To Share The Word Of God With Those Who Have Not Heard It”

Simon Yomkuey is a Comboni Missionary from South Sudan. He attends his second year at St Joseph Theological Institute at Cedara in Pietermaritzburg, Kwa-Zulu Natal. While spending some days in Pretoria, he shares with us his vocation journey

BY Rafael Armada, MCCJ
Interview with Simon Yomkuey

Simon, what can you tell us about your background?
I was born in 1988 in Mayom County, Unity State in South Sudan. My parents were pastoralists, not rich but like other South Sudanese. We are four boys and two girls, all Catholics. My father died when I was about 8 to 9 years old and my mother died in 2006 when I was at the University.

I moved to Khartoum with my brother in 1993. We had a house in the area of Ordurman. I attended the Comboni primary school in Bahry. From childhood I was very active in the parish run by the Comboni Missionaries. I was an altar server, choir conductor, a member of the parish council and chairperson of the Legion of Mary, a strong movement in the Catholic Church of Sudan.

How did your interest in becoming a Comboni Missionary arise?
I began to know the missionaries in the parish, though at first, I had no idea of becoming one of them. We had a weekly session about callings where they would explain to us, boys and girls, the various vocations, and how to become one of them.

During secondary school, I started showing more interest in the Comboni Missionaries. When I finished school, Fr Norverto Stonfer and Fr Adam Dawd Abushok, a diocesan with whom I used to share my queries, advised me to continue studying: “You can always tell us if you are still interested, after the University. We know you very well; it will be very easy for us to recommend you.” So, I proceeded to the School of Management, Department of accounting and finance. In 2011, the referendum of independence of South Sudan was celebrated, and the University was transferred to its original place, Juba. I moved there where I graduated in 2013.

How was your journey into the formation stages?
I had spent my whole life in Sudan, so I did not know where the Comboni’s were in South Sudan. The opportunity to find them happened on a Sunday. A priest came to our Holy Rosary chapel. After the Mass, he said: “my name is Guido Oliana and I am a Comboni Missionary.” I told him that I was interested in meeting the Comboni’s and after some days, Fr Louis Okot—then vocation director—phoned me. I met him and he asked me for a recommendation letter. Fr Adom Daud, a diocesan and then my parish priest, wrote it and sent it to him. Fr Louis invited me to a one-year programme called ‘come and see,’ during which we used to meet many aspirants, boys and girls, in the provincial house, every last Saturday of the month. They would explain to us about vocations, providing booklets of the life of Comboni, and other materials. Sometimes we would go to Kajokeji, where the pre-postulancy was, and stay for a week. Fr Louis would say: “You pay your transport to reach there, and returning, I will see if I can take you back to Juba”. After a year, in 2014, I was admitted to the six-month pre-postulancy, followed by an experience in a parish. Then, I moved to Nairobi for the postulancy, where I study a three-year philosophical course, followed by a two-year novitiate in Namugongo, Uganda. I professed my first religious vows, on 23 May 2020.

After the novitiate, I was assigned to the scholasticate of Pietermaritzburg, in South Africa. I could not visit my family—I had not seen them since 2018—because Uganda was under Covid lockdown. While waiting, I took the opportunity to stay in the Comboni community who works with the South Sudanese displaced in Uganda. When the borders eventually opened, I returned to Juba and, before South Africa could close them again, I entered the country.

Why a Comboni?
Vocation is a mystery. I really admire some priests whom I have encountered. When I was in the University, I had a strange feeling, as if I was forgetting something, or something was missing in me, though I couldn’t name it. I used to prepare my school books, clothes and shoes for the following day, yet my mind kept telling me that something was missing. When the idea of joining the Comboni Missionaries came, suddenly, that strange feeling disappeared.

Their simplicity, kindness, sense of belonging, way of receiving, listening and trusting people inspired me

What inspired me, from the few Comboni’s whom I knew in my parish, was their simplicity, kindness, sense of belonging, their way of receiving, listening and trusting people. No one saw himself greater than others; there was an element of equality. I also learnt from their sacrifices. All this motivated me to join them.

I also got inspiration from Fr Lual, a South Sudanese Franciscan priest, who was working in Egypt. When he came to Sudan, he used to celebrate Holy Mass in my parish. His homilies, and how he could talk about unity touched me.

Has your perception of the Comboni’s changed from your first encounter up to now?
Not really. Though I have found different characters, I also discovered that goodness is something that a person cultivates and nurtures. In the end, what one nurtures is what matters.

What have you gained in these years?
I have learnt how to stay with people of different backgrounds, cultures and ideas. I have gained education: philosophical and theological studies, catechesis and knowledge about St Daniel Comboni and how he started this Congregation.

Comboni sacrificed a lot and put his feet in the shoes of others.

What attracts you most in Comboni?
Comboni was passionate about taking the Word of God to those who had not heard of it; he sacrificed a lot and put his feet in the shoes of others. His homily at Khartoum, after coming back from Italy, when he said: ‘I have come back among you today. I left, but my heart was still with you. Young and old, poor and rich, healthy and sick, I will be your servant,’ inspired me a lot. I try to imagine the area where he was staying, both in South and North Sudan, difficult places, a foreigner coming from very far—it was not easy.

The trips he made southwards through the Nile, against the water current, were really hard. At least, travelling from the South, the water flows towards the North and is better.

How is your experience of a multi-cultural community?
In our scholasticate, we come from ten nationalities and three continents. One has to balance one’s culture with others’ and use a universal language. If one is not sensitive, it can make life very difficult. For instance, in South Sudan we eat kesira, (paper food). It will be awkward if I intend to eat kesira every day because others also have their favourite foods.

I find this experience unique and enriching. It allows one to enter into oneself. If the person staying with you sees you as a brother, he finds it easy to come and help in your weakness or correct you. The challenge comes when you don’t see others as brothers, you lack trust and decide not to share your problems with them.

How were the periods prior, during and after independence in your country?
The South Sudanese fought against the Northerners for more than twenty-one years, demanding their freedom. Independence came, though people are still facing some challenges.

Prior to independence, when we were one Sudan, the South Sudanese saw themselves as brothers and sisters. Their unity was incredible. Whenever a Southerner was involved in problems with the Arabs, anyone would come to their help, being either a Southerner or a Northerner, their colour was enough in assisting to solve the problem. Then, when the police came, they would not differentiate who was or was not involved in the incident; if you were a Southerner, you would be taken to jail.

When Sudan was one country, in public transport, if a black person was not able to pay their fare, another black would pay the money, even if they did not know each other. If one did not have a place to sleep, others would welcome them in their homes. In schools run by the South Sudanese, they could not chase those unable to pay the fees.

In those times, the same hospitality was happening in the South; the liberation fighters were getting sustenance from farmers and pastoralists. The soldiers could come to a village and ask the local chief for food. He would go to each family and ask for their contribution of a cow or a goat. Even if the fighters were arrogant, people would remain calm. They knew their mission and their goal were one with them. When the South Sudanese voted for independence, the result was impressive.

Before independence, the South Sudanese saw themselves as brothers and sisters. Their unity was incredible.

I never expected that, later, something would change people’s minds and plunge the country into the current situation. It was like saying: ‘let´s remove our common enemy so that we can start fighting among ourselves’, killing each other. Death comes easily for those who yesterday were together. How can people hate each other like this? It is unbelievable. Though we say we are free, there are no good infrastructures in the country, for instance, roads, hospitals, schools, and insecurity is everywhere. Is it the money from oil and gold which becomes our curse? I cannot understand it.

What have you discovered in your faith journey during these years?
I have discovered that with God, nothing is impossible; there is always a possibility. I have also understood better my relationship with Him, my existence; that all comes from Him. When I think of the problems and situations I came across, I saw that it was God who was leading me through all these obstacles. He was working with me silently. When there is a glimpse in my path, He shows me the way. I believe in His actions, even now, during this interview, He is beside me.

How does your culture accept the idea of celibacy?
According to my culture, not marrying and having children is taboo. I can understand it, but not those where I come from. They believe that such a thing cannot happen. If one says ‘I want to become a priest or a nun’, people will conclude that this person is impotent and is hiding it by going to the seminary. In my tribe, the Nuer, no one had joined the Comboni’s before, I am the first one, though Comboni was always passing my area in his journeys to Southern Sudan. That issue with my tribe was a big struggle. Cultures differ from one another, but now we are all happy with my choice.

My brother’s son wanted to get married. My brother told him: “no, Simon should marry first, then you, who are our children, will follow him”. I had to talk to my brother so that he would allow his son to get married.

What is your impression of the September 2019 peace agreement?
It is better than nothing. What is still at stake are those in the camps for internally displaced persons and the refugees in Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Congo and Sudan. They could come back, but they have lost hope and decided to remain in those countries where their situation is unpredictable. They have nothing to eat and they are homeless. UN supports them, but there is no guarantee for the future.

We cannot wait for the people to come to us; we need to reach out and motivate them.

The security is not good, people are attacked and killed on the roads, along the highway, not necessarily by rebels, but by hungry people who, not getting their daily bread, become robbers—a very unfortunate situation. There is also trauma in the minds of the people.

What is your experience in South Africa?
I have been in South Africa for one year. I like the country, their development, infrastructures—roads, good hospitals, schools; the government is trying its best to deliver services. The teachers in the theologicum are also highly qualified. What I don’t understand is the security issue; when you go to malls, you find guns being displayed; that shocks me. For the rest, I really appreciate the South African people.

What is your dream as a Comboni Missionary?
My dream is to share the Word of God with those who have not heard it. It can be physically, or through mass media. Technology allows us to reach far beyond our surroundings. My aim is to reach those that are abandoned, disowned, like those living in slums. We need to solve their cause of abandonment and engage also with those who try to isolate them from society. People need to understand that we are all the same, though with different talents. The only difference is how we use them. Those who consider themselves higher than others must comprehend that what they are now was not of their own making, but God was behind their success.

Are we, as Church, trying to transform the causes of injustice?
Yes. Injustice is one of the key issues in the downfall of our dramatic world. When we explain to the people that there should be justice in whatever they are doing, even at home, we make the world review itself. The Church tries to make the people of the world slow down and see what is going on around them.

Simon, wearing number 15, playing soccer with his companions of the Postulancy, in Nairobi, 2018. Credit: Simon Yomkuey.

Is ecology and Laudato Si’ a concern in South Sudan?
No. Laudato Si’ is something very far from the people. Maybe less than five percent of the population can understand what it really means to take care of creation. The majority are not educated, so, the idea is far from their minds.

Do you see the effects of global climate change in South Sudan?
Yes. No one is concerned with the consequences of human activities on climate change, which eventually affect people in a mysterious way.

In which direction should our congregation grow or improve?
We are lacking local investment. We have been depending on aid from outside. We are here in South Africa, Malawi, Congo and other countries, but we don’t produce locally to support ourselves and our congregation. Schools are very important too; through teaching, Comboni’s vision can be actualized and help others, not only to evangelise and baptise people. We need to review the method used by our founder who had tailors, shoemakers, schools for orphans, doctors, builders, clinics, boats and seminars. Do we have them now as a means of “saving Africa by Africa”?

Why do you think that there are few vocations in South Africa?
Some congregations have no vocation promoters, but still young people join them. I am wondering why. Instead, I asked myself: what is wrong with congregations that have vocation promoters? We cannot wait for the people to come to us; we need to reach out and motivate them. Laws and rules that we do not practise ourselves, we cannot demand from them. Distribution of publications about Comboni is not enough. One might have no time to read them. We may even block young people by saying that we only need those who have finished school. Instead, helping someone to complete their secondary school and incorporating them in our structures of formation may inspire them to find their vocation. In this way one attracts young people.

Mission is Fun

Mind in the Fields

BY Efrem Tresoldi | MCCJ

PROFESSOR OF philosophy, Fr Archie has been lecturing for years at the city’s Theological University. Esteemed for the vast knowledge in his field of studies, he is also known for his proverbial forgetfulness.

One day he is travelling by train, quietly seated among other passengers, holding a book in his hands. He is deeply absorbed in his thoughts when he hears the voice of the ticket inspector: “The ticket please!” Fr Archie begins to search in the pockets of his trousers first, then in the jacket—but nothing. Next, he looks thoroughly in his briefcase. In vain, there is no trace of the ticket. He becomes rather frantic, rousing the attention of fellow travellers next to him. Seeing his embarrassment, the ticket inspector looks kindly at him and with a reassuring voice says, “Father we have no doubt that you bought the ticket. Do not worry, you will find it”. “No! this is not the problem”, replies a rather distressed Fr Archie. “The problem is that I do not know where I have to alight”.

THE LAST WORD

Love Your Enemies (Lk 6: 27–31)

BY Fr Silvano Fausti SJ | Biblist and writer

Jesus reveals to us the face of a loving God. He is good to me, even if I am far from Him. He blesses me, while I ignore Him. He intercedes for me, while I forget Him. As long as I am saved, He is willing to sacrifice anything for me. He even gives me what I do not dare to ask from Him and does not ask back what I have failed to return to Him. Truly, His love for me has made Him travel much more than two extra miles: an endless road! He is all condescendence towards my abyss.

Secondly, in His love, He reveals to me who I am for Him: infinitely loved, even if I am full of shortcomings and wrongdoings. He pours out on me His love and grace, together with His mercy in every moment of my life. To know God in the Spirit is to experience and know God’s love for me, a sinner. This is salvation.

Thirdly, these words reveal to me who I must be to others: a brother or sister, like Jesus. What he has done for me, becomes an imperative toward others; to become for them what essentially I am: the face of Christ, my true face. From homo homini lupus (man, a wolf to man), to become homo homini Deus (man, a God to man), like Him. This is my vocation as a child of God, to which His love calls me and empowers me. To the extent that I know His face, I am transformed into His image, from glory to glory, according to the working of his Spirit (2 Cor 3: 18).

In these words, then, I see the story of God in Jesus, His love for me, my own story and everyone else’s who, healed from the hostility towards God, is called to be healed from animosity towards everyone.

The love for enemies is proper for those who have come to know God in the Spirit of Jesus

The discourse is addressed to the disciples. It is a catechesis on the core of the Christian life: the merciful love, the only possible love in a world of evil, the only force capable of overcoming it. The love for enemies is proper for those who have come to know God in the Spirit of Jesus. This love extends to all men and women, and reveals the essence of God.

The passage is articulated into a verse of four commands: ‘love’, ‘do well’, ‘bless’ and ‘pray’ for enemies (vv. 27, 28), followed by four amplifications that tell us how to overcome evil with good (vv. 29, 30), concluding with the general principle of love: “as you would like others to do to you, do likewise to them” (v. 31). These believing listeners have already understood and accepted the Kingdom. This is the central point in the teaching, the touchstone of their faith: called to the gift of a new life, purified and capable of walking it (cf. 5: 1–11; 5: 12–16; 5: 17–26), diners of Jesus, enabled to live from God and to act like Him (cf. 5: 27–32; 5: 33–6: 5; 6: 6–11). They accept His action as the foundation and source of their own lives. It is the new life in Christ, life in the Spirit, which the believer lives in relation to the world and to those who still do not know that they are his brothers and sisters and consider them as enemies. This love of the enemy is the weapon with which the believer overcomes evil in the world, and is the main means of spreading Christianity, much more effective than any crusades, which have the opposite effect.

REFLECTIONS • INCLUSION

Pathways of Education

The worldwide educational crisis calls for joint efforts, both in the family and at the school, to promote an inclusive model of teaching that leaves nobody outside the system and helps to form a relational human person

BY José Maia | Biology and Geology Secondary School teacher From Alenquer, Portugal

TODAY, MORE than ever, discussions and dialogues on education are held; and yet, quite a few questions plague us. At home, at school and in institutions in general, we witness the loss of authority in human relationships.

“Educating, however, has never been an easy task and today it seems to be ever more difficult. (…) Hence, there is talk of a great ‘educational emergency’, confirmed by the failures we encounter all too often in our efforts to form sound people who can co-operate with others and give their own lives meaning.” (Pope Benedict 2008).

We are immersed in a moral relativism where the fashionable values ​​are: complaining; the absence of rules in individual life and in interpersonal and social relationships, which materialise in difficulties of behaviour of children/pupils; and where voids proliferate.

This emptiness and loss had been foreseen by thinkers such as Nietzsche who signalled “the arrival of a world where norm and rule had given way to chaos and to the will of power of instincts and emotions.” In the world, an unbridled race for emotional and instinctive pleasure dominates, with the spread of new psychic diseases, such as addiction to games, video games, obsessions and a kind of slavery to which the Internet surreptitiously submits us.

Without realising, we may find ourselves tamed by the dominant culture at the level of ideas, fashions, consumption, among others, instead of proactively and fearlessly embracing proposals that go against the tide.

The culture of laziness arouses in young people a sense of a fantasy self-esteem painted with illusions, averse to responsibilities, which generate shortcuts to happiness and eventually leads to torment. Such a culture encourages individualism to avoid confrontation, and prioritises easy choices for immediate pleasure. No wonder young people are more and more vulnerable to depressions. Why? Because mental health depends a lot on our ability to relate to others.

School dropouts

The school reflects the entire cultural and educational reality and it is a relevant experience in the process of human growth. Currently, all over the world, we are witnessing an educational crisis, in which school dropout is glaring—despite all of UNICEF’s efforts—and is no longer due to poverty alone. In the so-called developed countries, this problem is disguised with larger fundings in education, together with an attitude of almost requesting the students to attend school as a favour.

School dropout is noticeably more evident in underdeveloped and developing countries, but also in developed nations the plague of dropout extends even to universities, with students not completing their cycle of education.

Dropping out is associated with behavioural and learning problems, emotional issues, lack of interest, motivation and of identifying with the school, among other factors.

Western countries—with a dropout rate around 10%—have not been able to remove the root causes of dropout, though mechanisms have been created to foster school attendance, for instance, compulsory education until 18 years old and tutelage regarding student absenteeism. In addition to social support, structures have been created to watch over and monitor possible warning signs of incoming dropouts, such as unsocial behaviours, poor academic results, among others.

Moreover, as there is an obligation to comply with certain standards, these dropout numbers are all too often subject to convenient ‘adjustments’ by the administration. Additionally, this rate does not take into consideration the attained levels of knowledge, discernment, or capacity to think critically.

Outside world

Often, the school gives more attention to certificates or numbers, rather than to a genuine educational nourishment. It is made more attractive, less difficult, and therefore, a discrepancy is created between the idyllic world of the school and the real life outside, which is full of challenges. However, it is essential to train the learners in a way that enables them to face the difficulties in their future, and does not lead them to give up, but contemplates every difficulty and helps them to confront it. It is also necessary to know how to include the component of ‘sacrifice’, always necessarily present, to achieve any goal. Learning how to cope with difficulties is a task that involves both the student and the educator.

“Suffering is also part of the truth of our life. So, by seeking to shield the youngest from every difficulty and experience of suffering, we risk raising brittle and ungenerous people, despite our good intentions: indeed, the capacity for loving corresponds to the capacity for suffering and for suffering together.” (Pope Benedict 2008).

Mental health depends a lot on our ability to relate
to others

Schools also started to be interested in other realities (associations, or equipment and gadgets such as mobile phones or television, digital platforms, video games, appliances of the virtual world), that quickly started to compete with the real world. Amazingly, we realized a lack of meaning entering into the families, schools and into the hearts of young people and adults. One cannot disguise the real disinterest that, hand in hand with a lack of preparation, generates an explosive mixture of depression and abandonment.

The pandemic did not help at all in this regard, having aggravated social differences and the consequent dropout effect. Thus, schools find themselves struggling with the concept of emptiness as a consequence of their diminishing credibility.

We need to understand the reality that surrounds us and not let ourselves be carried away by harmful ideas presented as whitewashed notions with questions posed such as what is the use of going to school or of learning this or that?

However, the world of fast utilitarianism does not realise that the neuronal development and maturation of human beings depends on the challenges and stimuli to which they are subjected, in order to generate mental tools useful throughout their lives.

According to the neuroscientist, Michel Desmurget, author of the book La Fabrique Du Cretin Digital (The digital cretin factory), our constant dependence on digital screens is causing harmful effects of alienation and brutalisation as we face the real world.

What answers can we offer?

We know that education is based on relationships, starting in the family. As Christians, we can have Jesus at home as an educational model. How? ‘Where two or three are gathered in my name’. The relationship of love between father and mother, as far as possible, makes them Jesus’ intermediaries in the educational act.

Looking at Jesus, we find some of His important characteristics as an educator:
His empathy—knowing how to enter into the other, how to listen;
His acceptance of the other;
Hope—things can always be improved;
His struggle for education—persistence;
Change, that entails concrete consequences;
Inclusion: He does not exclude anyone;
Credibility—existential convergence between the saying and the acting;
Consistency as an educator.

It is in the joint effort of education, both in the family and at the school that the originality of each person can emerge.

Our constant dependence on the digital world is causing harmful effects of alienation and brutalisation as we face the real world

The school stands in continuity with the family, in a spirit of subsidiarity.

Pope Francis underlines that “Education includes encouraging the responsible use of freedom to face issues with good sense and intelligence. It involves forming persons who readily understand that their own lives, and the life of the community, are in their hands, and that freedom is itself a great gift.” (Pope Francis 2016).

In this context, it is important to become aware of the need that the verb ‘give up’ disappears, starting with parents, teachers and the community who say ‘I do not give up on you, on your tomorrow’.

The school is a place of proximity—given the collapse of family support—and often becomes transformed into a unique place for socialisation, protection and guidance.

With the whole process of human transhumance, due to migrations, cultural exchange programmes, the refugee crisis and the effects of war, the school becomes a rich broth of cultures, classes, ethnicities and a place where dialogue—even between religions, though amidst unconfessed fears—occurs.

Pacts on Education

Let us not allow the abandonment of projects such as Living Peace, which encompasses schools from all continents, or the Global Educational Alliance launched by Pope Francis (2019) to “rekindle our dedication for and with young people, renewing our passion for a more open and inclusive education, including patient listening, constructive dialogue and better mutual understanding.”

With this Global Alliance on education, the Pope proposes a union of “forces in a broad education alliance, to form mature individuals capable of overcoming division and antagonism, and to restore the fabric of relationships for the sake of a more fraternal humanity.”

According to him, education is not like putting on and off your clothes, but implies an interiorisation that (as mentioned in the Instrumentum Laboris of the Global Alliance) includes the other person, a relationship and its fruit—fraternity.

Faced with the evident breakdown of intergenerational solidarity, technological overvaluation, the environmental crisis and existential anguish, a response is born; a new thinking about relationships that makes the differences a true source of unity.

Education is a path that leads the learner from the bottom to the top of the mountain

The Pope, with this educational challenge, emphasizes the importance that “in diversity may all people, according to their respective roles, share the task of forming a network of open human relationships. According to an African proverb, ‘it takes the whole village to educate a child’. Therefore, we have to create such a village before we can educate.”

The educational environment is a whole set of ideals, values ​​and lifestyles. The current world lives immersed in the fascination for technology, devaluing face-to-face communication, digging ditches of non-existing relationships. Attention is needed to an inclusive school that may be able to guarantee quality, and not be limited to mediocrity.

The light of hope

The inclusive school is not only the one that leaves nobody outside the system, but allows a path that lifts everyone to wider horizons. Education is a path that leads the learner from the bottom to the top of the mountain. Some may find it difficult and the desire to give up arises. Being inclusive implies finding strategies so that everyone can reach the top without leaving others on the way, bogged down in their difficulties.

The question of demand, when successfully achieved, also makes the student aware that he is worthy, more than what he really thinks. Not demanding is to send a message of being less, even if you do not intend to.

The school reflects the entire cultural and educational reality and it is a relevant experience in the process of human growth

The inclusive school has in itself a degree of flexibility that allows diversification of responses so that everyone can achieve their dreams. On the other hand, compulsory education can suffer from a short-sighted view of reality, especially when the diversification of the educational offer is scarce, ineffective and generates a misunderstanding of equality confounded with egalitarianism, not admitting responses with different degrees of demand.

Thinking of the educational global alliance proposed by Pope Francis and going to the roots of Christian education, we continue to believe in a life of hope, with steps of the one who searches, attentive to signs, singing new melodies that speak of the joys and groans that we share.

As we go through the educational and cultural night, we will light up the lights of hope. The overall purpose of the educational process is to help form a relational human person, the image of God and the Trinity. Deep down, what educates is Love, because, as the psychiatrist Ionata Pasquale (2006) wrote, “We were born to love and not to win.”

SPECIAL REPORT • EDUCATION IN COVID-19

Impact of Covid-19 on Children at School

The pandemic opened bare the injustices and inequalities in South Africa, particularly in the education system. One of the teachers from the rural area shares some of the various existing challenges in this field

BY Nikiwe Gift Ndlovu | Teacher at Khahlela Primary School, Mpumalanga

COVID-19 has been a devastating time for learners who, according to estimates, lost more than a year of tuition. Rotational attendance, days off, and occasional closures have brought anxiety and loss of interest in studies among most learners, especially in public and rural schools, leading to higher dropout rates. The availability of digital learning equipment, infrastructure and connectivity remains a big challenge and has hindered online learning during the pandemic. The gap between the poor and the wealthy has, therefore, widened even more during the last months.

Teachers have been unable to complete their curricula, leaving knowledge, as well as other gaps, which might bring about long-lasting implications, affecting not only education but also the labour sector, the economy of the country, and the future earnings of the learners.

Use of information and communications technology (ICT)

One of the greatest challenges exposed by the pandemic is the lack of ICT infrastructure in remote rural schools. Most of the learners come from poor backgrounds. In urban and private schools, children continued their tuition through various ICT platforms, such as Zoom, WhatsApp, Microsft Teams but those in remote rural schools were unable to do so, due to lack of resources, both at school and at home. The government failed to prioritize equal education for all learners, successfully integrate ICT in schools and transform the education sector. These factors contributed greatly to the interruption of ongoing education during the pandemic.

Covid-19 has been a devastating time for learners who, according to estimates, lost more than a year of tuition

These ineffective attempts include Operation Phakisa Education (OPE) which comprises aspects such as connectivity, availability of devices, teacher training and development, digital content development, distribution and e-administration. Since the launching of the programme in 2015, rural schools have still not been connected and very few schools have got enough devices for their needs. Moreover, the department of education has not been able to make proper use of these devices since teachers have not been trained to use them.

Overcrowding

Most of our public schools are overcrowded. In Covid times, in order to practise social distancing, learners had to rotate or take turns when going to school, either by days or weeks. This made them fall behind in their schoolwork and it will be difficult to catch up with the lost content. The department of education is trying to make up for this knowledge gap by grading curriculum content to be taught, a kind of a ‘catch up’ programme, done through the National Education Collaboration Trust (NECT). The NECT is a body that brings together different groups of people interested in education and committed to work collaboratively to improve education. The NECT has prepared the revised recovery curriculum and assessment planner and tracker for 2022. They are available on the NECT website (nect.org.za)

One of the greatest challenges exposed by the pandemic is lack of ICT infrastructure in remote rural schools

Nutrition programme

According to UNICEF and Stats South Africa’s 2020 report, Child poverty in South Africa: a multiple overlapping deprivation analysis, 62% of children in South Africa live in poverty, especially in rural areas. These children depend on the School Nutrition Programme (SNP) for their sustenance. The sporadic closure of schools and the Early Childhood Development Centres meant that many children missed their meals, leading to an increase in child hunger which may have a lasting effect on their development.

Infrastructure

Schools in remote rural areas do not have adequate infrastructure to accommodate learners under normal circumstances. The sanitation in most schools is not hygienic with some of them still using pit toilets. This is a danger to learners and not hygienic in the slightest. During the COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing among learners was impossible to implement, as there were not enough classes available. Learners were also unable to continuously wash their hands, due to lack of water in most of these schools. This lack of infrastructure caused learners and teachers to stay at home in order to prevent contracting the virus, interrupting therefore the normal class programme.

Bullying and sexual abuse

Bullying remains a big challenge in our schools to date. Although in most instances it is the boys who bully girls, there are instances done among boys, girls, or girls to boys. Boys usually view themselves as entitled to abuse girls; they think that they can do whatever they want to girls, including sexual harassment, such as touching a girl inappropriately, even when the girl protests.

Bullying can be reduced significantly at schools and in communities if parents, teachers and the department of education work together to prevent it, rather than reacting to incidents. School rules and policies, if well implemented, have the power to reduce bullying; parent-teacher collaboration and communication can also be of help. There is a need for teaching children to respect each other from a young age. The manner of discipline given to a child at home and at school contributes to bullying. If parents and teachers continue using corporal punishment they perpetuate bullying tendencies— ‘if my mother, my father, my teacher can beat me, then it’s ok for me to beat you’.

62% of children in South Africa live in poverty, especially in rural areas

Life at home is seen as a modelling behaviour that leads to these feelings of entitlement. Children observe their fathers harassing their mothers and witness emotional, economical, physical, verbal, as well as other various forms of abuse. They see such behaviour as normal, even when it is not. The department of education has introduced life skills programmes at schools to fight such social ills. Children are encouraged to have buddy groups where they learn to take care of each other, respect each other and to avoid violence at all costs. The life skills programme, a good initiative, is linked to the school nutrition programme to ensure that all learners get food. Gardening is part of it and aims at supplementing the learners’ diet and assisting those who have no food at home. Poor and vulnerable children are identified and supported if needed. Even if these initiatives are well intended, they lack efficient monitoring and evaluation, leading to some schools not following the valuable and beneficial programme designed for their learners.

Teenage pregnancy

pregnancy during Covid-19, especially in secondary schools. The escalating rate of teenage pregnancy is caused, among other reasons, by children not regularly going to school, parents working until late at night, leaving their teenagers unattended, pressure of getting a child in order to access to a social grant, child-headed families and other social problems. Teenagers who have remained at home have been exposed to sexual predatory elders, taking advantage of them and impregnating them. Poverty contributes to high teenage pregnancy rates creating situations where children find themselves in sexual relationships with adults for money— ‘sugar daddies’.

School dropout rates

The pandemic has also led to an increase in the dropout rate among learners. This can be attributed to the continued closure of schools, demoralization of both learners and teachers, lack of support in their studies from family members, among other reasons. Another great contributing factor has been that young learners have become heads of households because of the death of their parents and elders due to the Corona virus.

Poverty contributes to high teenage pregnancy rates. Children find themselves in sexual relationships with adults for money—‘sugar daddies’

Inclusive education

The inclusion of those learners experiencing barriers remains a challenge. The South African government has signed into policy the Education Whitepaper 6 (EPW6 2001) on Special Needs of Education. This ensures equal access to education for all learners, including those with disabilities or experiencing any kind of disadvantage—economic, social, language, class, behaviour or any other barrier. However, this policy is only effective in principle and the department is not doing enough on its implementation. Teachers have not been trained to accommodate those with learning barriers in their normal classroom environment. Therefore, they drop out of school and those with various disabilities stay at home, since they are not accepted in normal schools. Their parents are, at times, unaware that their disabled children should be accommodated and some teachers do not have information either, as far as inclusive education is concerned.

For example, learners with hearing impairment tend to be left behind in remote rural schools, since teachers have not been trained in sign language. A new Education Amendment Bill—still in Parliament for approval—has as one of its key aspects, the inclusion of sign language in tuition. Introducing sign language into schools will allow more learners with hearing difficulties to get quality education. The Amendment Bill will also bring some changes regarding compulsory schooling, language, code of conduct, drugs and alcohol initiation and corporal punishment.

The training of newly graduated teachers has also been deficient, not equipping them to face the challenges that new technologies bring along—particularly the use of ICT, implementation of online learning, coding and other novel trends in education. Currently, the department of basic education is piloting the introduction of robotics and coding in classes of Grades R to 3. What is surprising is that the number of teachers being trained for that purpose is insufficient.

Family background and education

in education. Children who grow up in wealthy families, with higher education backgrounds, are more likely to be better educated than those from poor and illiterate households. Children in wealthy environments are motivated by their economic status; books and educational resources are easily available for them, while kids from poorer environments struggle with nearly everything: books, uniforms, food, transport and, in some cases, parental support. Those from poor households are also not so much motivated in learning since they generally have no role model or someone to look up to.

Single parenting has both negative and positive influences on education. Some single parents can be very committed and focused on the education of their children. However, in general, children of families with both parents tend to learn better. They have the support of father and mother and greater assistance at home than those in a single parent setting. In some situations, single parents spend most of their time at work, leaving their children unattended with no one to assist them in their schoolwork. Some working parents compensate their absence with aftercare so that their children can be helped with their homework, but in poor families and communities, this is not possible.

This time of the pandemic should be seen as an opportunity to accelerate the fight against inequality, especially in the education sector

The Covid-19 pandemic has shown clearly the education inequalities that exist in South Africa, caused, among other factors by social, gender, wealth and racial inequalities. This time of the pandemic should be seen as an opportunity to accelerate the fight against inequality, especially in the education sector. It could be seen as an occasion for renewal and re-dedication to address social evils, such as the neglect of the poor and those living in rural areas. Resources need to be redirected to improve their education. It is unacceptable that in South Africa today, we still have pit toilets in our schools, metal containers as classes, a high number of schools without ICT infrastructure and other lack of needed resources. The Church has been a frontrunner in providing quality education. Good partnership between the Church, the private sector and the government can yield greater results in fighting these challenges. As Nelson Mandela once said: “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”. It is the responsibility of each nation to provide equal education to its children today, so that tomorrow they will be able to fight poverty, inequality, injustices and to build a better society.

CHALLENGES • BUILDING PEACEFUL SCHOOLS

The Change, We Hope, Begins with Ourselves

The issue of school discipline is tackled through a programme based on Restorative Justice. It aims at developing positive relationships between teachers and learners

BY Anne Baker | Deputy Director of the Catholic Institute of Education (CIE), Johannesburg

THE VIOLENCE that took place in Kwa-Zulu Natal and Gauteng in June/July 2021 is indicative of the rage within our communities. This violence is in our homes, communities and therefore our schools, that are a part of the community in which they exist. Since 2013, the Catholic Institute of Education (CIE), under the auspices of the National Catholic Board of Education, has offered schools a Building Peaceful Schools programme.

This programme was developed when CIE staff encountered teacher concerns and distress as they ran Child Safeguarding Workshops for schools. Teachers felt that with the abolishment of corporal punishment they had no means of controlling children and that this had made life very difficult for them.

School discipline and even discipline in some homes has largely been punitive both physically and emotionally. CIE decided that schools needed a different way of relating to the children and indeed teachers to each other. To this end, CIE developed a programme based on Restorative Justice. The aim of this programme is to develop a culture of peace and justice in schools.

The programme is underpinned by the values illustrated below, all of which are central to the Catholic school ethos.
The programme is underpinned by Catholic Social Teaching and of these the following are closely linked to the programme:

• The dignity of the human person or the belief that every human being is entitled to be treated with respect.
• Community and the common good: as social beings we need community and should always act with the common good in mind.
• Rights and responsibilities: human dignity can be protected and a healthy community can be achieved only if human rights are protected. Corresponding to these rights are duties and responsibilities—to one another, to our families, and to the larger society.
• Promotion of peace: Catholic teaching promotes peace as a positive, action-oriented concept. There is a close relationship in Catholic teaching between peace and justice.

Discipline is largely about developing positive relationships between teachers and learners. Our programme is based on the consciousness ‘that the change we hope for in the schools we work with, begins with ourselves’ and training for the CIE staff and the schools began with guiding participants to ‘step inside’ the experiential activities, reflect on their experience and to take the knowledge gained out into their personal and professional lives. The work requires self-awareness and awareness of the stakeholders and the network.

The programme has three iterative workshops: peace building, conflict management and restorative practices.

Peace-building invites participants to think about their own and the group’s needs—trust-building, communication and respectful relationships and what each person can do to build peaceful schools. It introduced the ideas of CIRCLE-TIME and the PEACE-MAKING PYRAMID.

Mediating conflict

Conflict management deals with the reality of conflict and how it can be resolved. Participants once again made use of I-MESSAGES, the PEACE PYRAMID and CIRCLE-TIME activities with teachers being encouraged to use these tools in the classrooms.

Restorative Justice introduced new approaches to discipline and aimed to assist participants in exploring their own understanding of punitive, retributive discipline as opposed to the restorative approach. Facilitators introduced a way of mediating conflict between two parties with the help of a set of questions, listening skills, and I-messages. This required and enabled each person to take responsibility for their actions and helped participants to reach an agreement between themselves which they could all live up to.

Each year these three workshops were deepened and expanded and have dealt with presence, forgiveness, bullying, gender and xenophobia.

Restorative justice practices in schools aim to move schools from a punitive way of dealing with wrongdoers to assisting them to become accountable for their actions and enabling them to put things right. This strengthens relationships among members of school communities, helping schools to become places of peace that nurture learners and staff alike and build the social capital we need. Most disciplinary methods as we know them diminish both the offender and the one applying the discipline. So how can we enable conversations to take place differently and be restorative rather than retributive?

Process and tools

It is not a quick or easy approach, and involves a process and a lot of personal work to which some teachers respond well and learn to ask restorative questions when things go wrong. Another important part of the programme has been a climate survey carried out with certain grades in schools and the formation of learners in peer mediation. The climate survey assists schools to understand what is happening in their school and involves both the actual survey and conversations around climate surveys for learners and teachers to understand concerns and challenges which explain the findings.

Young people have responded extremely well to becoming Peer Mediators who aim to defuse low level conflict and to identify areas for concern in their particular school.

The pandemic has unfortunately had a serious impact on the CIE’s ability to continue with the programme as schools are under great pressure to catch up on teaching and learning. However, circle-time with teachers in schools where it is possible, have enabled teachers to share the pain and stress of COVID-19, as many have lost loved ones and suffered themselves, as well as the strain of keeping children safe and the protocols required for this.

CIE hopes to restart the programme this year as more than ever, peace is required in all facets of life. We also hope to assist schools to work more closely with parents to promote peace.

WORLD REPORT • SKILLS TRAINING IN THE 21ST CENTURY

The Potential of the Informal Economy

Informal businesses have shown greater flexibility than the formal sector in adapting to the challenges of the current formal recession in South Africa. A Catholic school shows how it is possible to bridge the gap between training and economic activity

BY Anne Baker | Deputy Director of the Catholic Institute of Education (CIE), Johannesburg

WHILE THE Covid pandemic has delayed the predictions of the World Economic Forums on the fourth industrial revolution, a quiet, but effective, economic transformation has been occurring in the digitisation of informal economies to the benefit of people in skills training centres. Unsurprisingly, established formal businesses take time to adapt to new methods and technologies, whereas informal businesses have the flexibility to be early adaptors. The impact of the pandemic on the economy of South Africa has been dire, with over 900 000 formal jobs lost in the past three years. Even if data is not available on whether these formal job losses have been replaced with others in the informal sector, the official unemployment rate indicates that overall, the job creation in the informal sector has not kept pace with the losses in the formal one.

Unemployment

According to the 2020 World Development Indicators from the World Bank, South Africa had the highest unemployment rate in the world with 28.74%. Moreover, according to Statistics South Africa, it reached 34.9%, in the third quarter of 2021 and among young people (aged 15–34 years) the rate was 46.3% in the first quarter of 2021.The skills gap theory has dominated the approach to the economy through various government policies from Growth, Employment and Redistribution (GEAR), Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (ASGISA) to the new growth path. The primary view has been that the South African economy holds great potential for skilled labour and the primary problem has been the oversupply of unskilled labour, inherited from the apartheid economic model. The combined under-supply of critical skills and over-supply of unskilled labour create a huge employment vacuum which contributes to poverty and unemployment. Government policy included terms like the National Skills Revolution, and the overhaul of the skills fund was designed to undo the skills deficit. Similarly, per capita, South Africa is one of the leading spenders on education, despite poor outcomes in schools; the State has prioritised education spending since the dawn of democracy.

South Africa has, however, been in formal recession between the fourth quarter of 2008 and second quarter of 2009 and various technical recessions in between before going into a formal recession during the pandemic. Therefore, the view that the formal economy lost its potential solely through the lack of requisite skill, no longer holds true. The principle that one simply had to provide training and the job market would absorb newly skilled individuals, has been replaced with the reality that the formal economy is not providing enough jobs for skilled and unskilled workers.

Skills centres

The Thabiso Skills Institute started as a project 25 years ago and later became a department of the Catholic Institute of Education (CIE) for the last 10 years.

The Institute serves skills centres that are situated in and around communities that are socio-economically deprived i.e. communities displaced during apartheid. In 2019, collectively the 22 centres within the network reached 6 387 learners, 60.2% were male, 4% were 17 years of age or younger, 58% were 18–24 years and 36% were 25–64 years old. Only 38% held a matric (the Grade 12 school leaving qualification). Learners accessing the centres within the network are 98% unemployed and 1% under-employed, with all from low or no-income (government grant) households. In the tradition of the Catholic Church, all programmes are universal, that is, they are offered to the whole community irrespective of race, gender, religion, orientation or age. Many are third generation unemployed and have limited exposure to positive adult role models and attended dysfunctional schools that provided almost no personal or career guidance. Learners experience social decay manifested in the form of violent killings and protests, abuse of women and children, neglect, high levels of rape, crime and violence, trauma, unhealthy lifestyle choices (i.e. addiction) and are all affected by HIV/AIDS. Most of the centres are run by people sourced from within the served communities and thus they deal with the same challenges that their learners and communities experience.

The addition of this component ensured that learners could have practical experience. Out of the 810 learners enrolled in the programme, 35.4% became economically active compared to a mere 8% who were not in the programme. It is worth noting that this does not mean 92% of learners never become economically active, but rather that the programme reduced the time between graduating and economic activity. More strikingly though, 57.6% of the learners who attended alternative workplace-based learning became economically active compared to the 4% of learners who attend formal workplace-based learning. We are beginning to see trends that the quiet revolution happening in the informal economy is seemingly more effective for economic activity. The question remains why?

New technologies

The recent launching of digital only banks, who have a lower socio-economic target market, a suite of new financial technology (fintech) companies and the growth in the IT sector, have benefited both the formal and informal economy and present not just hope but real opportunities for those engaged in skills training. Where previously formal structures were governed by regulation which limited the options for the poor, the online space has made access more viable to those with internet access. South Africa is a highly digitally connected country with 38.13 million active internet users. Despite the lack of direct access necessarily to fibre internet and high costs, the use of mobile phones as access points to the internet with 36.14 million users provides an expanded reach.

Private entrepreneurship

The use of internet platforms such as second-hand sites and even international platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, present unregistered businesses and individuals’ platforms to trade goods and services. Uber, Bolt and Didi have changed the way in which people move but at the centre of these global companies, are individuals who are private contractors. The same applies to Airbnb which can be found across various suburbs and economic levels. It can be said now that the world’s largest taxi company owns no cars and the world’s largest accommodation chain owns no property and this is all possible through the existence of a range of private providers who can be formal and informal.

The Thabiso Skills Institute has kept, and even been ahead of, the pace with regards to skills development in South Africa. We embrace skills and employment of the 21st century in this time of economic recovery and look optimistically to the future potential currently being seen in the informal economy.