Thami tells Isabel that school does not mean the same to "them". What does he mean by this statement

Isabel says she has no problems with school, and that she believes her school years may be the happiest of her life, and Thami says that is not true for him. He tells her that school does not mean the same thing to white and black people. In Junior school he loved going to class, but "everything changed" (p.18). Thami means that Isabel comes from a white upper-class background where education is built around their privilage. For black South Africans, it is much different.