Brownbag Presentation: Learners with African Ancestral Calling: When Schooling Denies a Basic Human Right

Abstract

In many African educational contexts, including South Africa, learners who experience an "ancestral calling" a spiritual mandate to serve as healers, diviners, or custodians of tradition face significant systemic challenges. While these callings are central to indigenous belief systems, formal schooling environments often misinterpret them as deviance, leading to stigmatization, disciplinary action, and exclusion. This presentation explores the tension between constitutional protections for religious and cultural freedom and the persistence of colonial legacies within educational spaces. By drawing on emerging evidence, Dr. Moses Sipho Mkhomi analyzes how learners and educational stakeholders navigate these conflicts and examines the practical requirements for ensuring that the right to religious and cultural expression is realized in practice, moving beyond mere policy.