On the Makhanda Education Summit: a community convening for development

Ashley Westaway & Sisesakhe
Ntlabezo
from GADRA Education and
Makhanda Circle of Unity
The Makhanda Education Summit, a novel one-of-a-kind convening of the basic
sector in Makhanda, was convened by Professor Sizwe Mabizela following nearly
a decade of deliberate, intentional and collaborative intervention in schools in
Makhanda, focused on improving learner performance.
As the first community-wide
Summit of this nature to be called by a sitting university Vice-Chancellor, the
Summit sought to be an inclusive space for members of the education sector in the
city of Makhanda, and in doing so prioritised ensuring that its delegates included
representatives from early childhood development centres, primary schools,
high schools and non-profit organisations that work in the education sector. The
Summit has been situated within the history of the city’s education sector as a
crucial co-created reflection point by the community on the development of the
education sector, following its gradual upliftment through engaged partnership.
In
addition, it served as a strategic space to collectively identify key goals to shape
the future of education in Makhanda and map out the shared pathway towards
building a city of education excellence. Explored through the Social Movement
Theory, the presenters assess how the Summit’s hyper-local approach to bring
together school leaders and educators after impactful engagement over several
years enabled the development of a bold and forward-oriented vision to position
the city’s education sector as the leading education sector in the country.
Anchored
by the Vice-Chancellor’s Education Initiative, a collaborative partnership between
several entities within Rhodes University and GADRA Education that has played
a vital role in helping improve education outputs over the past eight years, the
Summit demonstrated the necessity and endless potential of collaboration for
common good, and the essential role of higher education institutions in driving community development.