Dunkirk, small boats and independent education | Prof Jonathan Jansen
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Dunkirk. June 4, 1940 - Operation Dynamo, later to become known as ‘The Miracle of Dunkirk’: 336 000 French, British and other Allied troops are evacuated from where they are cornered on the beaches of Dunkirk to England by 850 small, private, boats.
An operation so critical, after these troops had been trapped by a German pincer movement, that the failure of it may well have resulted in the Allies losing the war against Nazi Germany.
In a recent conversation with Professor Jonathan Jansen, I was fortunate enough to spend some time discussing the parallels between ‘the small ships of Dunkirk’ and independent education in South Africa.
In a country where we have upward of 26,000 schools (over 80% of them considered to be non-functional) and approximately 2,500 independent schools catering to 7,2% of the basic education sector, we feel a lot like the small ships of Dunkirk.
An operation so critical, after these troops had been trapped by a German pincer movement, that the failure of it may well have resulted in the Allies losing the war against Nazi Germany.
In a recent conversation with Professor Jonathan Jansen, I was fortunate enough to spend some time discussing the parallels between ‘the small ships of Dunkirk’ and independent education in South Africa.
In a country where we have upward of 26,000 schools (over 80% of them considered to be non-functional) and approximately 2,500 independent schools catering to 7,2% of the basic education sector, we feel a lot like the small ships of Dunkirk.
