'Teachers the problem in school xenophobia'
School teachers are less accepting of foreigners in their classrooms than their pupils are, a meeting which examined xenophobia and education revealed.
|||Cape Town - School teachers are less accepting of foreigners in their classrooms than their pupils are. This was revealed at a meeting which examined xenophobia and education in Cape Town on Saturday.
Teachers needed diversity training to counter this, concluded delegates at the meeting organised by Arigatou International, a non-governmental group which seeks to maximise interfaith co-operation “building a better world for children”.
Imam Rashied Omar, a member of Arigatou’s interfaith council on ethics education for children, moderated a discussion to examine the “role of the education system in addressing otherness’, challenging stereotypes, and providing spaces for children and youth to appreciate diversity and learn to respect one another”.
Khayelitsha teachers at the meeting said diversity training was needed not so much for children at their schools but for xenophobic teaching staff.
Vanessa Bonani, a teacher at Sizimisele Technical High School in Khayelitsha, said her pupils were accepting of African foreigners in their classrooms.
“We have learners who have surnames from other African countries. The complexion of their skin is also darker. Local learners pick up on that,” said Bonani.
“But our learners are quick to accept each other and their differences. Teachers and older people are not.
“Teachers need more training to deal with diversity. We have been living with apartheid and racism and now we are trying to talk to our learners about diversity but they are quicker than us to accept it.”
Novapi Millicent Myataza, a teacher at Harry Gwala Senior Secondary School in Khayelitsha, said pupils were living “with parents who have apartheid-thinking but outside their homes they are liberated”.
“The problem is when they adopt their parents’ views,” she said.
Myataza added: “I had a learner from Zimbabwe and I never knew her surname. She was ashamed of it because it identified her as Zimbabwean.
“It wasn’t the learners but the teachers who made fun of her. Teachers used the surname as a way of mocking the child. That’s why teachers need diversity training.”
Catherine Langenhoven, a senior planner for life orientation and religion studies at the Western Cape education department, said they had worked with Arigatou at schools to ensure diversity training for teachers since last year.
“We need to explore diversity in a democracy. It’s about getting conversations going so people can have a greater sensitivity to appreciate difference. Otherwise we are going to fight with each other,” said Langenhoven. She said they aimed to “train teachers to also confront their prejudices”.
Teachers would then take an “adolescent-centred approach” to “prepare our learners for the world”.
“They listen more to each other and we must give them good spaces to develop,” said Langenhoven.
The education department was at fault for excluding African foreigners, claimed Lisa Draga, a lawyer with the Equal Education Law Centre.
The law centre’s accompanying lobby group, Equal Education, has since its February 2008 inception been conducting research in schools in Khayelitsha and other low-income areas.
Draga said the education department created “barriers for foreign learners to access education” which seemed to create a sense of systematic xenophobia.
“Foreign parents are denied access to fee exemption if they are unable to afford fees,” said Draga.
“Schools also show no understanding of foreign learners who are waiting for identification documents. They can be registered at schools with a police affidavit while waiting for the documents but schools refuse to do that.
“The education department is often unwilling to register a child and often a lawyer needs to help families.”
Draga added: “Teachers need to be trained and sensitised about diversity so they can serve as examples to learners and instil democratic values.”
yazeed.kamaldien@inl.co.za
Weekend Argus