Youth Day in South Africa

The protest way back June 16th of 1976 became the most crucial yet central protest in over all part of South Africa’s history. It all started because of the poor system of education in the country. On January 1976, the government mandated that all school subjects would be taught to black people and that, only English and Afrikaans language should be recognized. They also stated that all indigenous languages from the country would be banned as well. That earned an uproar and disagreement from a lot of students, parents, and even from the teachers.

The morning of June 16th of 1976, approximately 30,000 students from Soweto, ranging from secondary and tertiary schools, decided to do a peaceful protest as they did not like the new Government System of Education which would not recognize the indigenous languages in schools. The protest was led by the SSRC, which stands for Soweto Students Representative Council. They brought placards with them which shows slogans such as “Down with Afrikaans” and “Viva Azania”.

The police then responded the protestors with a lot of gun shots. In the middle of the riot, a twelve-year-old guy, named Hector Pieterson, was fatally shot by a police force. It was said that Pieterson was the first one to get shot in approximately 30,000 students. That act earned students to be more displeased at the Government’s system. The protest caused thousand lives of students dead.

That crucial history resulted for the newly elected democratic government to commemorate June 16 as the day to honor the brave hearts of the students who died to save the educational system in South Africa. Educational policies were then directly changed after that tragic incident and the government made a memorial and museum named after Hector Pieterson.