Realising the full potential of our children is contingent to a good education system. Matabeleland society is fully aware that to develop, research and innovation are indispensable, and that a good education is critical. A good education helps people learn how to think critically, solve problems, and communicate effectively. It is our desire that our children develop a good understanding of themselves and the world, develop skills and become responsible local and global citizens. That will start with the reconstruction of our society so that we break away from a culture where children are passive members who must be seen not heard and consume solutions from adults.
Education systems do not make society. Society makes education systems. If our education system is not a true reflection of our societal norms and values and aspirations, then we can and must make it reflective. It might as well be that society must adjust so it does not obstruct good education. We conceptualise a good education as not just a preparation for life, but life itself; it helps people learn how to think critically, solve problems, and communicate effectively.
The first step to controlling our education system is to control our society; to model and demonstrate the kind of education we demand for our society. We need an education system that would be an embodiment of our identity, norms and values and a system equally invested in helping our children to better understand their external world to forge healthy relationships.
There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One of these is roots, the other, wings.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
Critical decisions about the design of our education system cannot be made without considering not only our society as it is, but our society as it will be. Good education empowers and liberates individuals; we are firm believers in the agency of education to awaken, in our children, the innate ability to achieve, the self-understanding – sense of self-worth, and the ability to listen to almost anything without losing their self-confidence.
Our children must be equipped with the right skills so they can appreciate their identity, and confidently adapt and adopt those foreign ideas that enhance their cultural foundations.
We must arm our children with the right tools so that they understand and appreciate who they are and are better able to discern local challenges and work out effective local solutions for the betterment of society. The socialisation process must place emphasis on how children should think to find answers to the questions about things in their immediate environment and beyond.
This calls for intentional changes in our parenting style so that children are core participants in family activities; they must learn and experience from an early age that their opinions matter and carry value within the household; we want them to be emboldened enough to play a key role in the decision-making process at home and in their communities.
It must be ingrained in our children, from an early age, that you will rather have questions without answers than answers without question. The enquiring young mind must be nurtured without the unnecessary constraints placed by some restrictive social and cultural expectations of how children – boys and girls – should behave. We must consciously shift away from social and cultural norms that set expectations and roles according to gender instead of ability and merit.
Changes and progress will be achieved if Matabeleland society prioritises making changes to critical social processes – we need to highlight the importance of equal and equitable treatment of men and women in society and ensure girls and women’s contribution to society is recognised for what it is worth.
Families must make significant changes in the home environment because it is the most immediate sector of children’s universe, the first setting that nurtures the young enquiring mind.
The home and its immediacy are the first laboratory to which the child is exposed and from which they explore how objects work, and problem-solve. Parents and adults in the child’s life are the educators the child interacts with first before attending formal teaching settings. As such, how adults engage with their children at home is important for how they transition and conduct themselves in school and society in general; in short, it is important for their school and adult life experience that the home environment and local community are liberating and empowering zones.
Education must be a tool that dissipates ignorance in society. For that to be achieved, our children must be intentionally socialised and formally taught how, not what, to think; they ought to look at things with an inquisitive eye; keep an open mind, question everything around them and learn how to problem-solve. An education system that fails to unlock the innate ability of its subjects to achieve and find solutions to their challenges disables an entire society.
MTHWAKAZI INDEPENDENT 