Abstract:
In this study, Mapulana male learners’ views on the influences of cultural initiation
on their schooling were researched. Rite of passage was adopted as the
theorisation for the study. In the context of the study, a rite of passage is when
uninitiated male learners (mashoboro) go through the initiation process.
Thereafter, their status of being boys is converted to becoming men (monna)
through a transition (passage). Likewise, normal schooling is also a rite of
passage, and Grades 1 to 12 are interrupted by another form of schooling,
initiation, as a rite of passage. This study was motivated by the tension that was
observed between the legal and customary, democratic and cultural, and formal
and informal schooling. The study was qualitative in nature and rooted in the
interpretive paradigm. Semi-structured interviews were employed to understand
the Mapulana male learners’ views on the influences of cultural initiation on their
schooling. It was found that the operation of initiation schools in Mpumalanga
conflicted with the school calendar and this ultimately influenced schooling. Much
of this could be attributed to the loopholes in policies governing initiations. This
study can capacitate the Mpumalanga Department of Education (MDoE) about
possible policy amendments. I recommend that parents raise this problem with
principals through school governing bodies (SGBs) and that it be brought to the
attention of the MDoE. The authorities should come to an agreement that
prospective initiates should undergo medical circumcision before they go into
cultural initiation performed in the bush. I also recommend that the above
stakeholders should only allow male learners who are less than 15 years of age
or those learners who are still in Grades 8 to 11 to undergo cultural initiation. The
school management team (SMT) should help male learners who were away for
initiation (initiates) with catch- up programmes. The MDoE must work hand-inglove
with the Department of Health, Department of Cooperative Governance,
Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), and law enforcement
agencies to prevent male Mapulana learners from being left behind in the
curriculum. It must be ensured that learners’ health comes first and that initiation
principals strictly adhere to policies governing initiation schools.
