The politics of naming: the institution of the Religious Studies Department, University of Cape Town

Abstract

IntroductionThe feature article on page eleven of the Weekend Argus, Cape Town based newspaper, of July 9, 2006, is about Sunali Pillay Durban Girls High School Matric learner.1 The large photograph of her youthful face dominates the page and is the centre of attention of the accompanying piece as it shows her in close-up head and shoulders shot, which opens up to the background of her white school shirt and dark school blazer. At first glance the subject of the article is hardly visible, but upon closer inspection, the tiny nose-stud in the girl's left nostril becomes all the more apparent. The size of the accessory is ironic, given that it was at the centre of an enormous, drawn out legal battle which took place in both the South African Equality Court and the Pietermaritzburg High Court of Appeal between Sunali's parents and her school. Contravening her school's rules of apparel and accessories, Sunali chose to wear the nose-stud to school. Upon being asked to remove the ring, Sunali responded by claiming that wearing the stud was a cultural and religious practice. This religious practice was wholly foreign to school authorities in the sense that, as Sunali's mother remarked, the school's religious ethos was predominantly white, Christian.Read within the context of the foundational document of the New South Africa, the Constitution, which guarantees the rights of all people within its boundaries, the legal contest regards the tension between Sunali's right to freely express her religious and cultural affiliation and her school's right to enforce its code of apparel. Possessing clear understanding of these rights, other South Africans have put them into practice by challenging both the state and schools on number of issues relating to religious and cultural expression. In recent times, number of such cases have gained both media and legal attention.2 A typical example would be hair and hairstyles, with learners wearing dreadlocks as symbolic expression of their Rastafarian religion coming into conflict with school stipulations on hair. In Sunali's case, however, the South African judiciary found that her right to religious expression superseded the right of the school to enforce its code of apparel.The school, as nexus between the spheres of the public, the private and the state, is thus highly charged political environment. And in the new South Africa, nowhere has this volatility become more evident than in regards to religion and religion education. In trying to come to terms with this salient issue, considering that South Africa has unique religious diversity, the state, through the National Education Department has implemented policy to democratically manage the rights and interests of all stakeholders involved in the school. To this end, and in line with the Constitution, the Department of Education has implemented policy in recent times to make religion compulsory part of primary and secondary educational instruction, as incorporated into the Learning Area of Life Orientation. Secondly, it has initiated Religion Studies as formal subject which secondary school learners may pursue from grades 10-12. In terms of intervention, the state has thus sought to not only manage the rights and interests of the many stakeholders involved but also perpetuate Constitutional values through the implementation of pluralist, open brand of religious education.The kind of tensions which manifest within the institution of the school regarding the issue of religion education, it can be said, are prevalent in all educational institutions which attempt to democratically manage the religious rights and interests of all parties involved. The terms that make up the phrase democratic religious education are often difficult to keep together. The creation of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Cape Town (UCT) during the 1960s stands out as salient example of the ongoing struggles which take place around religion and education. …