In the words of Nelson Mandela “Young people are capable, when aroused, of bringing down the towers of oppression and raising the banners of freedom”. Youth Day is celebrated annually on the 16th of June as a testament to the power of the youth to advocate against oppression. On the 16th of June 1976, thousands of students protested in the streets of Soweto against the use of Afrikaans as a medium of education. Moreover, the protests were also about the Bantu Education system as a whole. The idea behind Bantu education was to create a population that was trained to perform manual labour and be involved in ‘menial work’.  Students protested this too, opposing the overcrowded, underfunded and poor standards of education that students of colour were receiving from the Apartheid government. Tragically, clashes with police resulted in many protesters’ deaths, with statistics varying from 400 to over 1000 protesters (mainly children) dying. This was a devastating day in our country’s history but one that was also considered a turning point in the Anti-Apartheid regime. The actions of the Apartheid government in the June 16th protests were a contributing factor to the adoption of a more militant approach by Anti-Apartheid movements. The event also highlighted the atrocities of Apartheid to international communities, who would later introduce sanctions against the Apartheid Government. The ‘beginning of the end’ so to say.

This year marks 46 years since the Soweto uprising and whilst many strides have been taken to improve our educational system for young South Africans, there is still more to be done. According to Amnesty International, the modern-day South African educational system is characterised by “crumbling infrastructure, overcrowded classrooms and relatively poor educational outcomes”. The article also argued that a poor educational system “perpetuates inequality” and fails many children “with the poor hardest hit”. It is undoubtable that access to a quality education not only has positive impacts for a child but also for all of society. Some devastating statics noted that “three-quarters of children aged nine cannot read for meaning”. This issue in South Africa also seems to varied amongst provinces with statistics showing that reading without comprehension is “as high as 91% in Limpopo and 85% in the Eastern Cape. And of 100 learners that start school, 50-60 will make it to matric, 40-50 will pass matric, and only 14 will go to university”(Amnesty International, 2020).

At Book Village, we will not allow these statistics to persist and part of our mission is to help end the literacy crisis in South Africa. Our hope is that our digital app and library will allow for reading to become more accessible to all young South Africans and that this can help directly target some of the gaps in our educational sector.

This Youth Day, we continue to be inspired by the determination of the youth of 1976 in their quest to advocate for equal education for all. This tragic day is a reminder of where we have come from and our responsibility as a country to continue to advocate for the rights of children, particularly their educational rights.