Issue no: 06
Article by: Tshegofatso Rasekgotoma
Our arts who art marginalised
During my days as a teacher, I had the
honour and privilege of asking my learners
what they aspire to be in the future, and they
all wanted to be something but an artist. This
answer came as no surprise because
although schools are a fertile ground where
children's talents are to be nurtured and
encouraged to grow, some schools, like the
one I spent my two years at when I was given
an opportunity to give back to the community
through teaching, have a lack of adequate
resources and skilled teachers to harness
and teach certain special subjects such the
arts. As a result, over the years, the arts in
South African public schools have taken a
dive and although they are perceived as
beautiful, they are not seen as essential.
This is also evident in public school policies,
which have accorded the arts limited time in
the classroom, and only as part of the life
www.megaartists.co.za
skill subject that is only awarded less than
two hours classroom time weekly.
The arts and the South African law
The South African law has a constitution
which clearly states that, everyone has the
right to freedom of expression, which
includes freedom of artistic creativity. To add
to that, the South African white paper on arts
and culture asserts that, “rooted in freedom
of expression and creative thought, the arts,
culture and heritage have a vital role to play
in development, nation building and
sustaining our emerging democracy”. It is
clear that both the country's constitution and
white paper believe expression of artistic
creativity is a right and is vital because of its
ability to contribute to the strength of both
the economic and social standing of the
country, and that means that our children,
who are in disadvantaged schools are
Nov-Dec 2015
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