I don't hate education‚ says Hlaudi

Former SABC chief operating officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng says education should not only be about acquiring certificates but that knowledge should be a pillar on which society stands.

He was speaking in Pretoria at Friday’s launch of the Ulwazi Ngamandla Youth Initiative’s project to take a black child to university.

"In life‚ if you come from a poor family you should see that as a positive thing. Work hard and believe in yourself. I want to challenge intellectuals [and] ask them what education is. Is it when you have a paper on the wall or when you have knowledge?

“For example‚ I'm very intellectual and educated‚ don't make a mistake about that‚ but I have never been to university. I am not implying that education is not important but make sure it adds value. I like education [but] only when it adds value. Some may not know and suggest that I am against education‚ but I fund students from where I come from‚" Motsoeneng said.

He added that young people should believe in themselves and their dreams despite their circumstances.

"As black people we don't believe in ourselves‚ and if we don't‚ who will? Have a vision‚ plan‚ action and implementation. We must make sure our children are educated.

But what kind of education are we talking about? We need to stop challenging young people to only be lawyers and doctors and so forth‚ because careers such as plumbing are very important‚" he said.

Khumbuza Bavu founded the initiative in partnership with Transnet on a programme associated with Kip McGrath Education Centres.

"What we do is adopt schools and automatically any learner in that school qualifies to get our help. We are the foot soldiers who will go out there and find the necessary funding for the students. The plan is to be in collaboration with businesses and encourage them to invest in the education of our black people‚" said Bavu.

So far her organisation‚ under Transnet‚ has adopted 54 schools in Gauteng‚ 37 in Limpopo‚ 56 in KwaZulu-Natal and 15 in the Northern Cape.

"We are looking to adopt more and more government schools‚ because that's our focus. The idea is to fight the high rate of black learners not getting the opportunity to go to higher education institutions and further their studies. We will mentor them throughout and ensure that they make good decisions about their future‚” Bavu said.