On June 16, 1976, nearly ten thousand black students from Soweto, South Africa, woke up and prepared to join a march in protest against the apartheid regime. They were speaking out against the discrimination they suffered at school as black children and the poor standard of the curriculum. In response to the march, the South African police released dogs and fired live rounds at the children. The police retaliation went on for two weeks. Hundreds of children were killed and hundreds more injured. The two weeks of protest was dubbed the Soweto Uprising.
Since 1991, the International Day of the African Child has been celebrated on June 16 to commemorate those killed during the Soweto Uprising in South Africa, and to recognize the courage of the students who marched for their right to quality education.
Today, the International Day of the African Child is an opportunity to raise awareness for the ongoing need to improve the education for children living across Africa. The African continent has the youngest population in the world. Children below the age of 15 account for 41% of the population. The youth population is expected to increase to nearly 2.5 billion by 2050. Of the 57 million primary school age children currently out of school around the world, over half are from sub-Saharan Africa.
There are a number of reasons why children go uneducated. Their parents may not be able to afford school fees, the distance to the nearest school may be too far, or early marriage of girls keep them from attending classes. These and many more barriers to education have an enormous impact on children, especially girls. “Girls are active members of society,” explains Eden, a young girl from Ethiopia. “Society should understand them better and understand that they need the support of everybody to achieve their potential.”
Our children are Africa’s future. Though progress has been made since the Soweto Uprising, 1 in 10 children in Africa are still missing from the classroom. Much more work needs to be done to ensure all children are receiving a quality education. We know the transformational power education can have on children. With an education:
- Children, especially girls, are more likely to stay healthy, be more independent and become a force for social change.
- If all children in low-income countries left school with basic reading skills, 171 million people could be lifted out of poverty.
- When a girl in the developing world receives 7 years of education, she marries 4 years later and has healthier children.
The Order of St. John Paul II is committed to working with local partners to improve the infrastructure of schools, the quality of curricula, training of educators on appropriate pedagogical techniques, providing clean drinking water supplies, and providing improved sanitation at schools and the surrounding areas.
Please watch a short video about our target school for 2025: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3modyeGMUkI.
You can help us with a generous donation: https://www.sjp2.org/index.php/donate
May God Bless You and Grant You His Peace!