LEARNERS from various schools across the Eastern Cape will represent the province in the Inkosi Albert Luthuli oral history national competition, to be held in Pretoria on August 23 and 24.
The learners representing the province were chosen during the provincial oral history elimination round held at the Mandla Makupula Education Leadership Institute in East London last week Thursday.
The Inkosi Albert Luthuli oral history project was initiated by the Eastern Cape Department of Education (ECDoE), in partnership with the Department of Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture (DSRAC), and Maskew Miller Publishers.
The project is aimed at celebrating the lives of unsung heroes and heroines who brought about democracy, peace, unity, and nation building.
It also creates a platform for engagement among learners, history and social science educators. The project assists learners to express their own thoughts, feelings, and ideas on significant historical events.
Social sciences provincial co-ordinator Lulama Kenene said the first winners were selected during the elimination phase at the district level, followed by the provincial eliminations, with the overall winners expected to jet off to Pretoria for the national competition.
“The project is designed for learners in Grade 7 and Grade 11, and it involves a lot of research, story-telling, interviews, and writing skills, including an ability to speak confidently in front of a big audience,” said Kenene.
Zukhanye Tyakuma, a Grade 11 learner from St Christophers Private School in Qonce said she was encouraged by her teachers to take part in the project.
“It’s an honour and privilege for me to represent my school, the district and province,” said Tyakuma.
Maskew Miller Learning and Publishers’ Vuyokazi Nkamisa said some of their responsibilities included content creation and assisting the Department of Basic Education with creating textbooks for schools.
DSRAC heritage institutions assistant director, Mark Mandita, a former history teacher, said oral history is about the role Eastern Cape legends, heritage, liberation struggle, democracy, and human rights.
