Making a case for indigenous education systems in South Africa.

Abstract

South Africa's government was obliged to change the country's education system because of the Covid-19 outbreak. With the announcement of the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown measures in March 2020, all schools and institutions of higher learning at all levels were closed, requiring the Department of Basic and Higher Education to make strategies to keep the academic calendar running. Despite all these plans, rural learners in Basic education suffered academic setbacks due to some challenges, including distance/remote learning, which they were unfamiliar with, and the curriculum taught in schools, which was alien to them as indigenous people with rich indigenous cultural backgrounds. This study looked into the obstacles that learners may experience during the Covid-19 period in 2020. Secondary sources, such as news stories, media remarks, and written articles, were used to gather data. According to the findings, most students in 2020 will be unable to cope with distance learning and study independently without face-to-face assistance from their lecturers. As a result, children required frequent physical interactions with their teachers to grasp foreign course material. Given the "new normal" fallout from Covid-19, which may lead to distant learning, the Department of Basic Education should establish a program that embraces and respects indigenous knowledge as part of teaching and learning, according to the report. Such a culture-responsive curriculum will enable learners to work from home and get assistance from local knowledge holders.