Apartheid Museum promotes understanding of Freedom Day
Every Wednesday of the school term, transport is arranged by the Tsogo Sun Learning Academy for 50 students and two teachers to participate in a guided tour of the museum.
JOHANNESBURG SOUTH – The Apartheid Museum encapsulates the story of an historic South African struggle, the struggle for freedom. South Africa commemorated its past and future on April 27, Freedom Day.
The Apartheid Museum strives to facilitate an educational understanding and experience of the rise and fall of the apartheid regime. In 2011, Tsogo Sun and the Apartheid Museum initiated an educational programme in partnership with the Gauteng Department of Education, as part of the grade 9 curriculum and educational framework by providing the opportunity for school students to visit the museum.
“For some schools this visit is not always feasible due to learner and school budgets. The Tsogo Sun Learning Academy that forms part of the Group’s CSI strategy, facilitates the selection of schools in Soweto with the Gauteng Department of Education, affording these students the opportunity to tour the museum for free, thus engaging in this part of their curriculum and visually experiencing a part of their heritage,” Vusi Dlamini, Group HR Director of Tsogo Sun, explains.
Every Wednesday of the school term, transport is arranged by the Tsogo Sun Learning Academy for 50 students and two teachers to participate in a guided tour of the museum. The guided tour is an emotional journey, which includes 22 individual exhibits encompassing provocative film footage, photographs, text panels and artefacts illustrating the events and human stories that are part of the epic saga known as apartheid. The knowledge and imagery is often overwhelming and necessitates an introduction and debriefing by the guide to assist students in the understanding of apartheid.
Mwabisa Masenya from Ikaneng Primary notes that the journey through the museum was overwhelming. “South Africa was one of the worst places to live in during apartheid, but I am grateful for where we are today and for the progress the country has made. It was a combined decision between former presidents, Nelson Mandela and FW de Klerk, that has led us here, and these moments make me want to be an historian.”
Motlatsi Motepe, also from Ikaneng Primary, adds: “It’s sad to see what people went through. However, we learn from our past. Seeing it in a museum makes the struggle real and relevant. The experience is more than just a page to turn in a textbook, it builds on what we have learnt in the classroom.”
Mr Rhulani Justice Chabalala, Social Sciences teacher at Ikaneng Primary School, comments on the benefits of the museum as a teaching tool, combined with the curriculum’s theoretical teachings: “This is the first time I have come to the Apartheid Museum. Not only have the learners added to their theoretical understanding of apartheid, but so have I as a teacher and a South African. The experience enriches the students’ knowledge by adding a multimedia aspect to learning.”
During the course of the year, almost1 400 learners and 56 educators from 28 Soweto schools will have the opportunity to visit and experience the Apartheid Museum through this initiative.
