Degrees of separation

There is a major misconception in our modern society. Our post apartheid, rainbow nation, “we all have rights,” khumbaya, hand-holding society. The misconception…the assumption is that turning a privilege into a right makes it easier to attain; that the word “right” will cause a ripple of transformation which will, eventually, reach everyone. Here’s the problem with this assumption; it’s a load of rubbish. An example of this load of rubbish is the relationship between basic education and its distant cousin (twice removed); Higher Education. Allow me to elaborate:

When a child is sent to Pre-Primary School, it is generally assumed that from there they will advance to Primary school. Parents give one another advice as to which schools have the best teachers and conversations are had about application forms and similar processes. The child reaches the seventh grade and the same conversations are had about which high school is best and concerns over transportation and fees etc. When the child reaches the eleventh and twelfth grade, the conversation comes up again, which University or Technical college (or whatever else they are calling them nowadays) is best. Their fees are debated and reputations scrutinised and large volumes of information are shared. Now, these conversations stretch from rural Eastern Cape to Sandton, however whether all three of these conversations are had depends heavily on class and/or privilege. So…the access to the so-called right; depends on ones class and/or privilege. The margins seem clear; supposedly, everyone can ride the basic education bus…Higher Education, however, is a two seated sports car; no one is saying you can never ride it, you are just going to have to pay…and the currency is either Rands or human tears depending on your circumstances.

We have a knack for holding up “token rural pupils”. “Look at Themba, he lives in a mud hut and has never slept in a bed. His mother is a drunk and his classroom has no roof but he managed to get six distinctions in matric and go on to get more distinctions in University. He hasn’t a worry in the world because we are picking up the tab” what we don’t realise is that we are making Higher Education seem even more farfetched for any ‘C grade aggregate’ student who goes to the same school. By no stretch of their imagination are they going to get six distinctions and unfortunately that may be their only shot. Now there are those chosen few who decide that they will apply and attempt to get study loans once they are in University, but no one prepares them for the hostility that they will be faced with. They are not told that they will be expected to submit assignments electronically regardless of them having never used a computer let alone email. They are not warned that privileged people tend to stop listening when they hear a heavy rural accent. They are not informed that though they may have been accepted into the University; they will only be tolerated by the people in it. So, once again class and/or privilege (or lack thereof) stands between an individual and their rights. Even Themba and all of his distinctions and his zero balance on his fees account will struggle; and eventually have to choose: Is he Themba, the boy from a small village in Peddie, or is he a scholar at the University of Snooty. The two worlds are very far apart making them difficult to straddle, and usually the only method of survival is to succumb to grooming.

Our society is always too happy to throw people onto the lazy pile. Could someone please explain to me where ubuntu went? Whatever happened to empathy? When did it become so difficult for people to attempt to understand the circumstances of others? How is it that when a child goes into University and experiences a genuine culture shock, they become the responsibility of the Christians or the Hippies and everyone else is willing to stand back and watch them drown. Young men and women are leaving universities with debt and no degrees. Coming out worse off than when they went in. We, as a society, would like to attribute it all to laziness and lack of will…however, our unwillingness to acknowledge that there are other factors reveals that we are in fact the ones who are lazy and lack will. Perhaps I am being rash, perhaps my rants are propelled by mountains of debt made by student loans and I am just a sorry, nagging, bitter, stick in the mud who owes the government money….OR maybe, just maybe, there is some work to be done when it comes to the elitist nature of Higher Education.

Attaching privilege to any form of education perpetuates poverty. Children in rural areas throw blankets on mirrors and sit flat on the ground when the heavens darken for fear of being struck by lightning, those same children go to school every day but a University degree may never even cross their minds. What are the odds really?