How can government ensure AI is integrated into the education syllabus?
The KwaZulu-Natal youth parliament has called for a complete overhaul of the 'outdated' school curriculum to better prepare pupils for future careers.
While some schools have started incorporating AI into the syllabus, such as coding, others are left behind.
More than 70 delegates representing the MK Party, IFP, ANC, DA, EFF and NFP condemned the syllabus as 'disconnected and obsolete'.
They called for the urgent inclusion of AI and digital literacy, entrepreneurship, climate awareness, African history and mental health support, arguing a curriculum stuck in the past cannot prepare pupils for a world that has moved on.
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The league, which once counted thinkers like Anton Lembede and Peter Mokaba among its leaders, now risks becoming a parody of its former self — more comfortable with empty slogans than building a coherent vision for youth empowerment in a rapidly changing world. Worse still, the anti-intellectual turn has created a generational rift. Young South Africans who challenge the status quo from within — those who demand better schools of political thought, progressive research and ethical leadership — are often labeled as 'elitist', 'sellouts' or 'not radical enough'. This creates a toxic environment where mediocrity is rewarded and intellectual ambition is punished. The damage is not contained within youth politics. It permeates the larger political conversation. Debates in parliament are frequently reduced to trivial showmanship. Policy documents are either disregarded, poorly researched or plagiarised. Hashtags and viral outrage, rather than thoughtful consideration, shape public engagement. This crisis of thought is a national problem, undermining our ability to govern effectively, hold leaders accountable and foster democratic participation rooted in knowledge. There are exceptions — young activists, scholars and leaders pushing back against this trend by combining political commitment with intellectual rigour. However, they are often isolated, unsupported and swimming against the tide. Without institutional support for intellectual development within political structures — especially the league — they will continue to be marginalised. First, the league must reclaim its intellectual tradition. This means reviving political education with urgency and integrity. Long-term programmes that examine history, ideology, economics and international movements are preferable to workshops that are merely check-box exercises. These initiatives must push young leaders to consider the intricacies of change in a post-colonial, capitalist society and to look beyond catchphrases. Second, political leadership must stop treating intellectualism as a threat. South Africa needs a leadership culture that values thinkers, readers and researchers as much as it does activists and organisers. The binary between theory and practice must be rejected in favour of a synthesis that produces clarity of vision and effectiveness in action. Third, civil society, universities and independent think-tanks must step into the void. If political parties fail to create space for young intellectuals, other institutions must offer platforms for engagement, critique and public education. Democracy does not survive on votes alone — it survives on the circulation of ideas, the contestation of narratives and the evolution of political thought. Finally, young people must resist the pressure to conform to anti-intellectual norms. They must read, write, question and debate — not in isolated academic silos, but in the streets, community halls and digital spaces where the political is lived. To think critically is not to be less revolutionary. On the contrary, it is the most revolutionary act in a society starved of meaningful ideas. Our political institutions are fragile. Our economy is stagnant. Our youths are restless. We cannot afford a political culture that glorifies ignorance and punishes insight. The crisis of thought is not abstract — it has material consequences. It means policies that fail. Leaders who mislead. Movements that collapse. If the ANC Youth League does not rise to this challenge, it risks becoming irrelevant in the society it seeks to change. Nevertheless, if members can reclaim the power of intellectualism — rooted in justice, truth and revolutionary theory — they can become the vanguard of a new political era, one defined not by noise but by substance. Siyanda Kate is a PhD candidate (Political Studies) at Nelson Mandela University.
