Day of the African Child

The origin of the International Day of the African Child come from 1976 when in Soweto, South Africa, thousands of black school children took to the streets on 16th June, in a march more than half a mile long, to protest about the inferior quality of their education and to demand the right to be taught in their own language. On that day hundreds of young students were shot and in the protests that followed over the next two weeks more than a hundred people were killed and over a thousand were injured. The day was first initiated by the Organisation of African Unity in 1991 to honour the memory of those killed and the courage of all those who marched.

In Mazabuka, as is now the case elsewhere, the day is meant to raise awareness of the continuing need for improvement in the education provided to African children. The theme this year was ‘Planning and budgeting for the wellbeing of the Child . . . a collective responsibility’. The day was in many ways no different to the others that I have experienced with dance, drama, music and speeches; though the hundreds of school children from around the area did make plenty of noise. The most interesting part was in the run-up to the day. A debating competition was held pitting local schools against each other at junior and senior levels with prizes including a computer, printer, television and DVD player. I attended the finals which was a raucous, noisy affair, more speeches by each school team of four students rather than debate. It was all very passionate, especially when the audience joined in to shout support for or against the speakers’ points.