Here is why Hendrik Verwoerd will soon be smiling in and around Joburg

Wipe the smile off Hendrik Verwoerd’s face by fixing the South African education system.

That is what Amnesty International SA wants South Africans and the government to do.

“The legacy of racial discrimination in the South African education system, characterised by poor outcomes, overcrowded classrooms, inadequate facilities and learning materials for tens of thousands of students, still looms large 25 years into freedom,” the human rights group said in a statement on Monday announcing the launch of their #SignTheSmileOff campaign.

Amnesty International will put up smiling faces of the former prime minister and so-called “architect of apartheid” Hendrik Verwoerd up around Johannesburg.

“The campaign urges members of the public who care about the provision of quality education to ‘sign the smile off Verwoerd’s face’ by demanding that South Africa’s leaders urgently provide all children with the decent quality, basic education that is their birthright as enshrined in the constitution. By signing the smile off Verwoerd’s face the public will add their names to a petition that calls on the government to fix the problems in education by 2021.”

Amnesty SA executive director Shenilla Mohamed said in Monday’s statement that SA’s education system “still mirrors the apartheid years”.

“Many schools serving our poorest communities rely on outdated and poorly maintained infrastructure and a dire lack of teaching resources that provides a wholly inadequate learning space for young people. While South Africa has made progress in providing access to education, it has yet to tackle the deeply entrenched legacy of apartheid, left by Hendrick Verwoerd, that continues to result in massive inequalities in the country’s education system.”

The organisation wants all children to:

• Have quality education;
• Be able to read;
• Do simple maths;
• Have a safe environment; and
• Adequate infrastructure.