Eland School
Culturally grounded learning for Khomani San children.
Upholding Indigenous Educational Rights
ACRRA is committed to ensuring that Indigenous communities have access to educational resources, providing both formal and informal educational support aligned with their rights. The standard of education that ACRRA supports is enshrined in Article 14(1) of UNDRIP which states that:
“Indigenous peoples have the right to establish and control their educational systems and institutions providing education in their own languages, in a manner appropriate to their cultural methods of teaching and learning.”
ACRRA is proud to partner with Eland School, a primary school situated in the Kalahari, South Africa that works to provide Khomani San children with culturally inclusive education which enhances and nurtures traditional values, heritage and culture interlinked with a solid mainstream Foundation Phase schooling.
When the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park was proclaimed in the 1930s, the Khomani San people were displaced from their ancestral lands. Many were resettled or dispersed across Namibia and surrounding areas. In 1995, the community lodged a land claim for 400,000 ha of Kalahari land. This was successfully settled in 1999, with then-President Thabo Mbeki transferring 36,000 ha of farmland and 25,000 ha within the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park to the Khomani San.
Challenges such as limited education access and unemployment persisted. In response, the community envisioned a school that would support both educational development and cultural preservation. In 2015, land was allocated for the school , and a community-wide survey helped shape its direction. The school was officially registered in 2023 – a significant step toward securing recognition for the Khomani San’s language, culture and future generations.
Eland School is unique in that, although open to all children, it focuses on educating children of Indigenous heritage, who have lost their traditional language and aspects of culture due to historical events. Eland School aims to preserve and revitalise N/uu and Nama cultural traditions, and knowledge systems, while also providing academic and social support to students and the broader community who have suffereded historical trauma. The language of instruction is Afrikaans which is the home language of most of the learners.