And their Influence on Education Equity in South Africa
On 16 June 1976, the youth of South Africa started an uprising that spread countrywide, changing South Africa’s socio-political and education landscape. The 1976 Soweto Uprising was a show of resistance and retaliation against the Apartheid Government's Bantu Education Act of 1953, which prescribed the use of Afrikaans alongside English as the primary language for teaching and learning. The Bantu Education Act was an unjust and exclusionary policy that infringed on a majority of South African’s equal access to education. The 1976 June uprising was triggered by this systemic injustice, which negatively impacted access to quality education for most of the South African black population – or, more than 80% of the country's total population.
The post-Apartheid government, through its newly formed Constitution, advocated for the recognition of 11 official languages. This was to ensure that language was not a barrier to equal access to education in South Africa. Ultimately, the Language in Education Policy was adopted by the government in 1997, which offers rights to learners to receive education in their mother tongue or in African languages.
To commemorate the movement by the Youth of 1976, Injini and Ambani Africa have collaborated on a digital campaign focusing on improving access to education through technology and African languages. Through the campaign, our audience will have access to gamified learning content in various African languages to help advocate, promote and raise awareness of the importance of using technology to improve language skills and access to education for learners in marginalized communities, who have no or limited proficiency in English.
We are thrilled to partner with Ambani to bring our community multilingual educational gaming content to help us learn more about the history of Youth Day and amplify the power of using innovative technology to improve access to quality education in African languages. Join the #June16EdTech movement on social media, and test your South African history and general knowledge in your mother tongue. We will be giving away exciting prizes, and all you need to do is tag Injini and Ambani Africa on our carefully curated Instagram and Facebook filters and LinkedIn games.