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"Great political events are unfolding before our eyes. To the overwhelming majority of our people it is already obvious that a great revolution is in the wings in South Africa," so confidently remarked Mzala in 1985 reflecting on the esteemed spirit of the South African masses, who were clearly tired of apartheid oppression and thus utterly resolved to fight and defeat it. 27 years later, the descendants of the Bantu Education system are forcing their way into the ivory towers; bring down all walls - both visible and invisible - that operate as a stumbling block to higher education access and success. Through struggle, the system has been stripped naked. All its misdemeanors and their symptomatic factors are there for us to see; a shocking scene that is.
The tension of a class divided society produces problems which deserve our attention in the Higher Education and Training sector. It is not coincidental that out of the 496090 learners who sat for the metric examination in 2011 only 348255.18 passed. If we further stratify these numbers, you will discover that the majority of prospective students from working class backgrounds will not make it to the universities due to the bourgeois technical admission requirements. It is an existing fact that Higher Education Institutions and the processes of their daily governance are a reflection of our very much divided society. One of SASCO's rallying slogans correctly asserts that; we are members of the community before we are students.
Press Releases23 January 2012
The South African Students’ Congress (SASCO) has noted the unfortunate misguided statement on Unions in Education by Andile Lungisa. His call for the banning of unions operating in the education sector and attributing poor results and challenges in our education system to unions is unfounded and cannot be equated to common sense.
06 January 2012
The South African Students Congress (SASCO) welcomes the release of the 2011 Matric results, particularly the improvement of the pass rate by 2.4 percent to 70.2 percent. This owes to the countless efforts of the learners, teachers, families and the communities. Great things are indeed unfolding before our eyes, under the leadership of the ANC government even though there is still a long way to go.
11 December 2011
The South African Students Congress (SASCO) held a highly successful and extremely united 17th National Congress at the University of Free State from 3-8 December 2011. The Congress was convened under the theme: ‘Education is a Site of Struggle - Students First, SASCO to the Front’. This theme is informed by our Marxist-Leninist conviction that education is not a class neutral institution. Congress discussed and took resolutions on many issues in the higher education, further education and training and society in general.
NEC BulletinAs usual, debates in our National Executive Committee meeting were lively; heated but comradely. One of the liveliest of these discussions was the debate around the Free Education struggle in the face of pronunciations by the ANC and Presidency in the January 8th rally and the State of the Nation Address.
The Red SparkThe Red Spark, the Theoretical Journal of the South African Student Congress has left its infant footprints on the ideological soil in South Africa. An apology to our detractors is at this stage necessary. If you thought the Red Spark will somewhat disappear into the unknown, we are really sorry to disappoint you. The only place that this Journal is going is higher and forward. At a time of low morale and ebb in the theoretical and ideological realms in the country, Journals such as the Red Spark are ever more relevant.
