IN A bid to educate young people about the 1976 uprisings, the National Youth Development Agency on Saturday took students from various high schools in Gauteng on a historic tour of Soweto.
The aim of the tour, which started at Constitution Hill in Johannesburg, was to educate the youth about what it took to achieve democracy.
About 100 Grade 11 and 12 students from schools such as Town View High, Krugersdorp High, Jordan Secondary, Van der Bijl High, Dan Kutumela High, Brakpan High, Lesiba Secondary and Ivory Park High braved the chilling weather to learn about the country's history.
The students visited the Hector Pieterson Museum and Memorial, Nelson Mandela Family Museum, Apartheid Museum and Walter Sisulu Square, where they learnt about the Freedom Charter.
Refilwe Mphane of the NYDA said the project started last year when they took students to historical sites, particularly in Soweto.
"We want to educate them about the 1976 uprisings so that they will be inspired to also be as determined and persistent in dealing with challenges as the youth of 1976." Mphane said.
"They might not have the same challenges as the youth of 1976, but they are faced with unemployment and HIV-Aids.
"It is another way of motivating them to have the same determination. We also want them to appreciate the rights they now have."
Though people believe that everyone knows the country's history, most pupils were exposed to such information for the first time.
Zodwa Mazibuko of Lesiba Secondary School in Daveyton said: "This is the first time I am being exposed to this information. There is a limitation to what we are taught at school. As a history student, this information is very important. I think the youth of 1976 worked hard to open doors for the current youth.
"I think we should all go to institutions where we can be educated more about the 1976 uprisings. Partying and drinking is not the right way to remember people who died so that we can taste freedom."
Nokuthula Vukubi, also from Lesiba Secondary, said: "After all the information I got here I ask myself how people really felt when they were tortured. Despite all of that, most of our heroes were able to forgive and forget."
Retracing '76 steps
IN A bid to educate young people about the 1976 uprisings, the National Youth Development Agency on Saturday took students from various high schools in Gauteng on a historic tour of Soweto.
The aim of the tour, which started at Constitution Hill in Johannesburg, was to educate the youth about what it took to achieve democracy.
About 100 Grade 11 and 12 students from schools such as Town View High, Krugersdorp High, Jordan Secondary, Van der Bijl High, Dan Kutumela High, Brakpan High, Lesiba Secondary and Ivory Park High braved the chilling weather to learn about the country's history.
The students visited the Hector Pieterson Museum and Memorial, Nelson Mandela Family Museum, Apartheid Museum and Walter Sisulu Square, where they learnt about the Freedom Charter.
Refilwe Mphane of the NYDA said the project started last year when they took students to historical sites, particularly in Soweto.
"We want to educate them about the 1976 uprisings so that they will be inspired to also be as determined and persistent in dealing with challenges as the youth of 1976." Mphane said.
"They might not have the same challenges as the youth of 1976, but they are faced with unemployment and HIV-Aids.
"It is another way of motivating them to have the same determination. We also want them to appreciate the rights they now have."
Though people believe that everyone knows the country's history, most pupils were exposed to such information for the first time.
Zodwa Mazibuko of Lesiba Secondary School in Daveyton said: "This is the first time I am being exposed to this information. There is a limitation to what we are taught at school. As a history student, this information is very important. I think the youth of 1976 worked hard to open doors for the current youth.
"I think we should all go to institutions where we can be educated more about the 1976 uprisings. Partying and drinking is not the right way to remember people who died so that we can taste freedom."
Nokuthula Vukubi, also from Lesiba Secondary, said: "After all the information I got here I ask myself how people really felt when they were tortured. Despite all of that, most of our heroes were able to forgive and forget."
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