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Robben Island University

This article is about Robben Island University which was set up within Robben Island prison walls. Robben Island is located in South Africa, North of cape town. The prison served as South Africas maximum-security prison from the mid 1960s to 1991. The prison population at total held close to 1,500 prisoners. 500 hundred of these prisoners were incarcerated for crimes including murder, rape, assault, with the other 1,000 being political prisoners. Most of these political prisoners where incarcerated for their roles in activism against the apartheid, among whom was Nelson Mandela who came to be the first black head of state in South Africa shortly after his release in 1990 .The apartheid being the institutionalised segregation that existed in South Africa at the time.The political prisoners themselves started what is know as Robben Island university in the 1960s.Robben island university shows that education can come in all forms and at various stages of life.The education achieved at Robben Island university being particularly enlightening , a former prisoner said, "Those first few weeks at the quarry had the opposite effect on us,” he wrote. “Despite blistered and bleeding hands, we were invigorated.” The men proving great benefits of education , creating a light in a bad situation.

This image shows the cell Nelson Mandela was imprisoned.

The development of Robben Island University

During their time at Robben Island prison, the prisoners would take any opportunity to educate one another, wether this meant in the quarry during a break from work, at the dining hall table , them staying up late in the bathrooms or secret lectures being arranged.Many of the prisoner express that " the only single advantage of being sent to Robben Island was the education it offered".The university is said not to be built of bricks, but from intellectual debate carried out despite the attention of the wardens keeping the men imprisoned.Where as education in many countries is seen as a right, to these man the education they gained in Robben Island university was seen as a privilege.One that many the men due to the racial segregation of the apartheid would have been refused on the outside.

The education gained at Robben Island University

Political discussion was at the heart of the spirit of Robben Island university, with the political prisoners educating one another in order to nurture, shape, and sustain the resistance movement against the apartheid. The ideas these men had in prison is said to have lead to a new South Africa, with many of the men continuing with their political education on the outside, gaining roles in parliament and in Nelson Mandela's case becoming state leader. The university if Robben island is said to have forged a whole breed of young leaders.

Nelson Mandela 2008

Many of the men in entered Robben Island prison uneducated and left prison with educations ranging from basic literacy skills , to coming out with full blown degrees.For example the second highest judge in the South Africa government learned to read in prison by tracing letters in the sand.Another example is former prisoner Kathrada who completed degrees in Criminology, History, African Politics, and Library Science.At the University of Robben Island, there were no standardised tests, no professional performance reviews, no Common Core curriculum. There was instead a passionate love for the great books and a vigorous pursuit of knowledge and wisdom. An alternative education of great passion and success.

Education as a force for social change

In this case of Robben Island University we see a form of education that acts as a force for social change, rather then seeing education as a conservative force. Education within prisons creates social change in many forms , Robben Island University being a prime example of this. Resistance to social justice is a key form of social change demonstrated by the education gained at Robben Island University, with the men using one and anothers knowledge and educations to sustain and nurture the resistance movement against the Apartheid. For these men during the apartheid resistance to the racialization of their mass incarceration, Robben Island University provided education to populations deprived of resources in the free world. The men created resistance to the idea that all who are incarcerated have no mean for good and and are unworthy of the benefits society offers, like work, education, and political activity. In fact the Men of Robben Island university where a force for good , participating in South Africa moving from an unfair and repressed society during the apartheid , to one that is more equal. The education gained by these men acted as a force of social change in terms of reduced recidivism rates and poverty rates ,due to being provided with such strong education these men where able to go far on the out side. Robben Island should therefore be highlighted as a successful model of where education creates the best outcomes and can be used in many different institutions other than schools.

Reference

External links

1.https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/robben-island-a-monument-to-courage-62697703/

2.https://sites.northwestern.edu/npep/benefits-of-prison-education/

3.https://www.history.com/topics/africa/apartheid