Join the 1GOAL March for Quality Education for All

Join the MARCH FOR QUALITY PUBLIC EDUCATION FOR ALL on June 10 in Johannesburg. 

One of the most exciting national developments in education over the World Cup period has been the coalescence of civil society organisations behind the Public Participation in Education Network (PPEN) and 1GOAL’s campaign, calling for quality education for all South African children.

The coalition includes the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu), the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), the National Professional Teachers’ Association of South Africa (Naptosa), the South African Council of Churches (SACC), the June 16 Coalition, networks of school governing bodies, student organisations, and a growing number of youth and educational NGOs representing well over 3-million South Africans.

Together these groups are planning a peaceful march to Constitution Hill on June 10, the day before the opening match of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™, to coincide with the Education Summit for world leaders, announced by President Jacob Zuma in March this year. 

The march, a public expression of commitment to quality education for all, has now been granted permission to go ahead by the Department of Safety and Security as well as Johannesburg’s Local Organising Committee.

The PPEN-1GOAL campaign aims to ensure that global energies directed toward the World Cup are used to mobilise public support for the educational rights of all children. Across the globe, 72-million children have no access to schooling, and while South African children have formal access, the experience is deeply divided, unequal, and dehumanising for the majority.

The Nelson Mandela Institute has long held that government working alone cannot achieve and sustain quality education for our children. Instead, achieving this vision requires all sectors of South African society join together and drive the agenda for public education. The Institute continues to play an active role in supporting the emergence of this civil society coalition, a profound and exciting development for the nation.

Show your support for quality education by marching with us on June 10, 2010.

Click here for news about yesterday’s press conference where Cosatu General Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi called on all to join the march.

Click on the following press statement.

Click here to find the map of the march.