Front row from the left: Prof Andre Keet, Sally Mathews, and Angelo Fick; Back row from the left: Shaneulia Nel, Marcus Maphile, Kegomodicwe Phuthi, Senovia Welman and Betsy Eister.
Photo: Hatsu Mphatsoe

Library and Information Services commemorated International Literacy Day on 8 September 2015, to recognise the role that literacy plays in developing society. This year, the day was celebrated with the launch of a book, Being at “home”, co-edited by Sally Matthews and Pedro Tabensky. The launch was attended by students and staff, who participated in a panel discussion, and was facilitated by Angelo Fick, the well-known commentator from eNCA .

Panelists Sally Matthews and Prof Andre Keet from the Institute for Reconciliation and Social Justice, discussed the collective narratives of race, institutional culture, and transformation at South African institutions of higher learning.

“The theme of the book emerged from two round table discussions I joined on race and higher education and institutional culture,” said Sally. Concerning transformation in institutions, she posed the question: “Who do we choose to discomfort when we can’t make everyone feel at home?” She suggested that universities should be more open to the ‘other’, instead of expecting everyone to become more like “us”.

Prof Andre Keet reiterated that, in the course of transformation, discomfort must be evenly distributed. He challenged universities to create sufficient levels of discomfort for both black and white parties. Speaking on the issue of making higher education institutions ‘home’, he described institutional spaces as the “getting together of strangers,” and that “Part of the reason universities are not changing is because social structures remain intact.”

In closing the session, Angelo expressed his delight in the fact that young people are reading more: “I found out who I was by reading about things that were not being taught in the classroom,” he said.  

The UNESCO International Literacy Day  is celebrated internationally each year.  This year, it celebrated the theme of “Literacy and Sustainable Societies”.