Crisis Related to Culture

Crisis Related to Culture
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Crisis Related to Culture
South Africa is a country that has experienced a crisis when it comes to its ‘culture of reading.’ This crisis is as a result of the apartheid legacy (where whites were privileged and blacks disadvantaged). The legacy contributed to the illiteracy among the black people and especially the adult population with literacy levels being close to zero thus this group became the lowest in the class structure having its people living in absolute poverty (Christie, 1985). Only a small fraction of the population would read or buy books, and there was an increased collapse of the library services, and book publishing among the black languages continued to suffer years after apartheid had come to an end. This is a major cultural crisis that called for immediate intervention for the growth and development of the country (Chisholm, 2004).
Proper education is essential as a means of ending the cycle of poverty and promoting development in South Africa. Therefore, the best way to intervene and deal with the reading culture crisis is to support and motivate people to have a severe reading culture by establishing a better education system which has the capacity to transform the society (Malherbe, 1976). People can be encouraged to adopt a culture of reading by being shown the value in having an education and essentiality thereof. Understanding the importance of education will cause people to have self-drive in seeking education and illiteracy will become a thing of the past (Kallaway, 1984).

The education system should focus on producing learners who can read and write. Teachers should go through the right training, and the learning process should be one of transparency and accountability even in the use of resources (Hartshorne, 1992). Development of education infrastructure such as libraries would encourage a reading culture among the learners.
This form of intervention would induce a value for education among the learners which would ultimately increase the reading culture among the people thus helping to solve the crisis concerning the ‘culture of reading’ in South Africa.
References
Chisholm, L. (2004). Changing class: Education and social change in post-apartheid South Africa. Hsrc Press.
Christie, P., & Christie, P. (1985). The right to learn: The struggle for education in South Africa. Braamfontein, Johannesburg: Ravan Press.
Hartshorne, K. B. (1992). Crisis and challenge: Black education 1910-1990. Cape Town: Oxford University Press.
Kallaway, P. (Ed.). (1984). Apartheid and education: The education of black South Africans. Ravan Press of South Africa.
Malherbe, E. G. (1976). Education in South Africa: 1652-1922 (Vol. 1). Juta.