South+Africa

South Africa Ally Stewart === ===

Introduction  South Africa is located in the southern part of the continent, and covers over 470,000 square miles. The beautiful terrain consists of plateaus, deserts, and mountains. Their diverse landscape causes the climate to differ in all areas of the country, however, in most places it is comparable that of southern California. South Africa is home to more than 50 million people as well as many species of animals including those referred to as “the big five”; the lion, buffalo, elephant, leopard and rhinoceros. Their economy is based on manufacturing, mining and agriculture, and is influenced by high volumes of tourism as well. In 2010, South Africa became the first African nation to host the FIFA World Cup, and this also contributed to the country's economy. For many years, apartheid was the political system that was used in South Africa. In this system, extreme measures of racial segregation existed toward Blacks, who made up a large majority of the population. Under apartheid, Blacks were given virtually no rights in any part of life. After close to a century of struggling, the first non-White president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, was elected in 1994, and the apartheid was finally resolved. Among other hardships that the country has faced, a large number of the South African population continues to live in poverty, and their country contains the highest number of those who are affected by the AIDS/HIV virus.



 Despite that number of downfalls and difficult times that South Africa has suffered, the country features a diverse mix of culture, religions and people rich in culture. South Africa recognizes 11official languages and a number of religions, primarily Christianity. Rich culture in food, traditional dance, art and music can be noticed throughout the country. Today, South Africa is known for its beautiful landscape, interesting cuisine, and production of wine, and unfortunately, its difficult struggle with apartheid. The troubled past that this country has experienced cannot be overlooked. As a result of the apartheid that lasted for almost a century in South Africa, cultures remain divided, and the country is not unified. Much of the population still lives in poverty, and it appears that these people are the ones that continue to carry on cultural traditions of their ancestors. On the other hand, whites that make up the middle class have become much more westernized and urbanized. Art in South Africa is somewhat dependent on who is creating it. Traditional South African art consists of cave paintings, decorated houses and elaborate jewelry made by groups of people such as the Zulu Tribe, while in more recent decades, the subject of more modernized art focuses on the apartheid itself.  The educational system in South Africa was also greatly affected by the apartheid. Under these laws, there was discrimination against the Black race, and they were unable to attend certain schools. Even though there have been substantial changes, “the opportunities for education in public schools are still unequal between Black and White children”. Because of the separation that existed in schools for so many years, they have struggled to become integrated. Schools with Black children are often underfunded, and although changes have been made, large gaps in education among races still exist. In addition, there is an increasing trend in the number of students who are attending public versus private schools in South Africa. The children who are able to afford private schooling, who are often the white students, tend to obtain a better education, as public schools lack appropriate resources. The overall curriculum in South African schools allows students to learn English, however they are still taught every subject in their native language. Although arts and culture is included in the curriculum, it is not mandatory to be included in every grade, and is combined with another subject called "life orientation." For this reason, I do not find that correlating arts and culture is evident in all schools in South Africa. Some schools are focusing solely on being able to provide their students with pencils and paper to write on. Surprisingly, as many as 26 universities exist in South Africa, where after passing an exam, students are given an opportunity to extend their learning. I found that in addition to offering standard degrees, many of these focus on a specific trade or form of art, such as cooking, dance or music.

Athol Fugard  Athol Fugard was born in Middelburg, South Africa in 1932, and in the mid 1950s, began working as a dramatist, playwright, author and director of some of the most notable productions in South Africa’s history. His productions are so well known because they speak out against the South African apartheid. In 2011, Fugard received a Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in New York City for his work as a playwright “whose art has always spoken out against racism and who continues to be an active voice for freedom and equality”. Some of his notable works include plays My Africa! My Children! (as discussed in the video below), The Train Driver, No-Good Friday, People are Living There, and films Tsotsi, The Road to Mecca, Gandhi and The Killing Fields. Throughout his lifetime, Athol has also been nominated for six Tony awards for his productions.

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South African Education and Environment Project (SAEP) South African Education and Environment Project (SAEP). The South African Education and Environment Project is an organization that works with children and educators with its primary objective being “to provide holistic education and promote arts and culture.” They base the majority of theiwork in a small community called Phillipi, a community that is severely impoverished, and schools lack essential resources. Schools contain extremely large class sizes and low pass rates. The SAEP aims build confidence in students and provide them with development programs aimed to achieve academic success so that the students will be able to attend a university in their future. SAEP offers various programs to students of many grade levels including ADT teach, which focuses on expanding children’s knowledge using, and Matric success, which offers tutoring for students in English, sciences and mathematics. In addition, SAEP offers an environmental education program which allows students to learn about their heritage through outdoor experiences. The program offered that directly correlates to the arts is named the Arts Outreach Program, in which students are provided with arts education in “visual art, music, dance, drama, photography, creative writing, and film.” The program attempts to “inspire creativity through self expression and increase access to the arts and opportunities for artistic expression in severely under-resourced communities”.

Description of School Art's Programs  While doing research on South African education, I have noticed that in many circumstances, schools are using the small amount of funding that they receive toward teaching standard subjects and do not place a large focus on including arts in grades K-12. Although it is part of the countrywide curriculum, arts and culture are presented in combination with another subject, termed “life orientation”, and are only mandatory for teaching in grades 4-6. It is hard to determine exactly what is taught in every school, because education differs greatly throughout the country. In schools with adequate funding, which are most often private schools, arts are given higher priority in classes such as music or art, and in extracurricular sports and choirs. For example, South African private school Streatham and Clapham High School for girls offers a wide variety of subjects including art, design and technology, drama, Latin, French, Italian and music. On the other hand, schools with insufficient funds focus on providing education of basic subjects because they do not have adequate resources or income, therefore causing the absence of arts education in some schools. Projects such as the SAEP attempt to integrate arts and culture into schools that may not be able to on their own. Looking past grades K-12, I noticed many mentions of arts programs being offered at the university level.

Conclusion  South African education differs greatly from the education that I have experienced in the United States. Although education in South Africa is beginning to transition into a more westernized style, this is not true of all schools in the country. In my schooling, arts and culture were always highly integrated in my education, and throughout grades K-12, I took various classes that allowed me to explore different areas of creativity. Also, all of the schools that I have attended have been provided with sufficient funds to support the teaching of various subjects. I feel very grateful that I have been granted with receiving such balanced education that included the teaching of arts and culture, as I have learned that not all children are this lucky. Some South African schools are underfunded and therefore unable to provide educations that fulfill teaching in core subjects and arts and culture. It is comforting to know that there are foundations available that are helping to improve all schools in South Africa, and help those who may not be as fortunate as other to have the same educational opportunities. In my research, I was surprised to learn about the apartheid and how it is still affecting schools and education, among other things, to this day. I have never experienced discrimination as it still exists to a certain extent in some South African schools. It was shocking for me to learn that until 1994, Black children had to attend completely separate schools than White children. Obviously, this is unacceptable in any place, and it is a shame that it was the rule in this country for so long. It is great to know that there has been legislation placed that prevents this from happening, and that students are beginning to receive similar educational opportunities. Although many problems still exist, it is my hope for South Africa that all students will someday have equal opportunities in terms of education, and that arts and culture will be fully integrated as a vital part of the curriculum.

Sources: [] [] [] [] [|http://www.everyculture.com/Sa-Th/South-Africa.html#b] [] [] http://www.saep.org/index.php