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Racism in Indian Schools in South Africa
Dr Bhaskar Dasgupta
Unfortunately schools are always the target for social policy. One of the places, where this was observable in horrible detail, was in apartheid South Africa. One had white-only schools, coloured-only schools, black-only schools and Indian-origin schools.
It's this last one which caused me to take a deeper look at a paper which crossed my in box. The paper is by Anthony Lemon, and is titled "Indian identities in the 'rainbow nation': Responses to transformation in South African schools".
But how did these Indian schools fare after apartheid ended?
I am not sure if there are any definite conclusions, but I am just going to comment on certain noteworthy observations that the author made.
- During apartheid, despite being segregated and having lower amounts of comparative funding, Indian schools did equal to the white schools, both in terms of enrolment as well as educational attainment. Now that I found to be quite interesting and the author points to the unholy drive that Indian parents have towards educating their children as the reason behind this performance.
- But post apartheid, when just looking at 5 schools in a tiny corner of South Africa, some very interesting aspects come up. The first is that while the teachers, staff and governing bodies want to open up their schools to more black students, the parents usually are not that interested. Apparently the prevailing view is, once you let lots of blacks into a school, Indians are less keen to go to that school. Seems like the governing body, teachers and staff are more liberal and inclusive compared to the normal parents.
- Second, while almost no white students would go to an Indian school, some Indian students will go to a white school. But this is either statistically insignificant or because the parents live next to a white school and not because of an explicit desire. Also, most Indian schools are equal if not better than white schools.
- On the other hand, black students will commute very long distances to get to Indian schools which are considered to be much better than black schools. In many cases, the travel costs are greater than the school fees, which is very thought-provoking indeed.
- In many schools with an Indian majority before but now having an African majority, the teachers and staff are still predominantly Indian, mainly because African teachers are very difficult to getm, recruit and retain. But this is not as simple as it seems, as staff and teachers seem to be associated with their apartheid era racial attributes. So white teachers go to white schools, Indian teachers go to Indian schools, and so on and so forth.
- But curiously, a pattern which seems to emerge is that Black teachers do not like to go the extra mile which Indian staff and teachers are famous for. For example, in a school, the principal is in school every day of the year, including weekends. Apparently this over the top dedication to teaching is not seen in Black teachers and thus they do not seem to last long in Indian schools.
- Curiously, while Indian parents would be very heavily involved in the schools and with their children's education, that pattern does not seem to show up in black parents, because of poverty, long commute distance or other reasons.
- But given that a huge amount of school funding comes from the parents, a paradoxical downside of opening up the Indian schools to Black students means a very big drop of school income. Given the current economic climate, this is hurting the Indian schools badly in terms of infrastructure development.
- The United Kingdom seems to be siphoning out good teachers relating to physical sciences, biology, maths, speech and drama, languages and life orientation. They seem to be heading off for a better life and salaries.
Now this is what I found interesting and I quote the last line "Desegregation of former Indian schools, if sensitively managed, can make a significant contribution to that identity (Indian Identity within a rainbow nation) by gradually increasing understanding and acceptance of Indians by the black African majority".
So if I read this right, Indians are not accepted or understood well by black Africans and the feeling seems to be reciprocated solidly as shown by the school choices (albeit in a small sample). Racism seems to still be alive and kicking in a very saddening level in South Africa. But would it mean a race to the bottom in terms of inclusiveness or a race to the top in terms of merit? My sad prediction is the former, the balance of probability, looking at how public policy has been executed usually in that neck of the woods, usually means that when it comes to merit versus skin colour, the latter wins.
Racism in Indian Schools in South Africa
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Amitabh Mitra
URL
August 17, 2008
02:04 PM
Dear Bhaskar,
I beg to differ on this point. The Affirmative Action in the new South Africa is a necessity. The Indian schools needs to be integrated so that children of all races are adjusted within the new system.I had to pass through a difficult period during the apartheid regime where I was insulted by my Professor in Pretoria for not eating beef and not understanding Afrikaans.
The rainbow nation with its children are better off than those in many other countries. The black South African child has a right to go ahead.
Sekunjalo
Amitabh Mitra
www.amitabhmitra.com
www.poetsprintery.book.co.za
South Africa
bd
URL
August 17, 2008
05:52 PM
Amitabh
Thank you for the comment. Well, seems like the normal parent of the child who attends an Indian School seems to disagree with those sentiments...
When the progress of one child depends upon the reduction of another child's progress, the choice is not so clear cut, is it?
bd
URL
August 17, 2008
06:12 PM
sorry, I should have said, the normal parents seem to disagree with the sentiments...
that's the problem, I am afraid. At end of the day, we all have that little racist inside us.
Ruvy
August 18, 2008
05:03 AM
bd,
Now this is what I found interesting and I quote the last line "Desegregation of former Indian schools, if sensitively managed, can make a significant contribution to that identity (Indian Identity within a rainbow nation) by gradually increasing understanding and acceptance of Indians by the black African majority".
So if I read this right, Indians are not accepted or understood well by black Africans and the feeling seems to be reciprocated solidly as shown by the school choices (albeit in a small sample). Racism seems to still be alive and kicking in a very saddening level in South Africa.
Why am I not surprised?
Anamika
August 18, 2008
08:37 AM
Bd: V. interesting article. The issue is not simply of Indian vs Black or even white/black/Indian in SA but a complex mix of economics, clan/nation politics, and of course historically created and long held perceptions.
SA Indians have (and perhaps its understandable) tried to fit in with the white elite for a very long time. At the same time, the divide-and-rule logic of apartheid (and the history of racism) ensured that Indians saw/see themselves as "better" than the black population (this is not just about perception but the actual legal framework of the apartheid system).
And rather logically the black population resented/s the Indians who they see as sell outs to the white population. And with reason, a lot of Indians were terrified of the idea of majority rule (ie democracy) because they felt they would bear the brunt of black anger. Few of them had been part of the freedom struggle and the overwhelming majority of SA Indians voted for the dominantly Afrikaans, conservative, architect of apartheid National Party in the 1994 elections.
One of my more memorable exchanges with a very prominent SA Indian businessman was regarding politics when he declared that "Gandhi had created so many problems for Indians in SA that they were still suffering from it."
What you see in the education system is yet another manifestation of the divisions, aspirations, prejudices and ideas that have riven SA for a long time.
bd
August 18, 2008
10:38 AM
Anamika,
you are very right, it is extremely complex. And while the ethnographic study concentrates only on 5 schools in a limited geographic area, I, along with you, have no doubt that this is seen all over the place.
I just finished writing something about whites in england, the flip side of the argument.
But while the situation is very complex, at the same time it is not.
I am a parent, I have 2 kids. If I was in South Africa, what would I do? Well, as the researcher says, I as an Indian would prefer my kids to be educated in a school formed on the base of race, despite the best efforts of educators and liberal folks (see Dr. Amitabh's note above).
And yes, there is plenty of evidence to show that Indians are more racist than the whites or the blacks, because we do it to both ends (black and white). Remember the studies in kenya and uganda? when asians were kicked out?....
Chaitanya S
August 18, 2008
03:51 PM
BD, Personally I feel that rather than racism, it the economic status of an Indian that will determine which school his children go to. I was in Tanzania when one of my uncles was in the process of securing admission for his kids. The International school (predominantly white students) was way expensive and not a viable option though some of my other cousins studied there. The Indian school was the best option because of the tution, education and the environment. African schools were believed to be low on discipline and academics. I visited an African school for my cousin's interview and they said he was good enough to skip 2 grades !
I do not know much about Indians in SA, but in East Africa, collaborating with the whites paid dividends. They enjoyed the benefits and suffered pitfalls (being kicked out) just the way the whites did. Even after they had to leave, they assimilated themselves successfully in the UK.
As far as Indians being racist is concerned, I feel it is more out of prejudice towards "Africans". We tend to feel safer with Caucasians around us rather than blacks.
I know your article discussed students who were born in SA and I am discussing my experiences as a foreign born student. Apologies if my comments are off track.
-Chai
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