29
Apr
Apr
Following the British victory in the South African War, the British High Commissioner for Southern Africa, Sir Alfred Milner, brought thousands of teachers from Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand to instil the English language and British cultural values, especially in the two former Afrikaner republics.
To counter the British influence, a group of Afrikaner churches proposed an education program, Christian National Education, to serve as the core of the school curriculum.
The government initially refused to fund schools adopting this program, but Jan C. Smuts, the Transvaal leader who later became prime minister, was strongly committed to reconciliation between Afrikaners and English speakers; he favoured local control over many aspects of education.
Provincialautonomy in education was strengthened in the early twentieth century, and all four provincial governments used government funds primarily to educate whites.
The National Party (NP) was able to capitalise on the fear of racial integration in the schools to build its support. The NP’s narrow election victory in 1948 gave Afrikaans new standing in the schools and, after that, all high-school graduates were required to be proficient in Afrikaans and English.
TheNP government also reintroduced Christian National Education as the guiding philosophy of education.
Before 1953, many black people attended schools set up by religions organisations. These schools provided schooling of the same quality that white children received in state schools.
Followingthe Bantu Education Act (No. 47) of 1953 the government tightened its control over religious high schools by eliminating almost all financial aid, forcing many churches to sell their schools to the government or close them entirely.
The South African government implemented an education system called Christian National Education (CNE).
Thebasis of this system is that a person’s social responsibilities and political opportunities are defined by that person’s ethnic identity.
Although CNE advanced principles of racial inferiority, it promoted teaching of cultural diversity and enforced mother-tongue instruction in the first years of primary school.
Thegovernment gave strong management control to the school boards, who were elected by the parents in each district.
In 1959, the Extension of University Education Act prohibited established universities from accepting most black students, although the government did create universities for black, coloured, and Indian students.
The number of schools for blacks increased during the 1960s, but their curriculum was designed to prepare children for menial jobs. Per capita government spending on black education slipped to one-tenth of spending on whites in the 1970s. Black schools had inferior facilities, teachers, and textbooks.
In 1974, the Minister of Bantu Education and Development issued a decree commonly known as the “Afrikaans medium decree” in which the use of both English and Afrikaans was made compulsory in black secondary schools.
Inthis decree, physical science and practical subjects would be taught in English, mathematics and social science subjects would be taught in Afrikaans, and music and cultural subjects would be taught in the learner’s native language.
TheMinister said that the reason for this decree was to ensure that black people can communicate effectively with English and Afrikaans speaking white people.
This decree was unpopular with learners and teachers alike, particularly in towns like the Johannesburg township of Soweto, where practically no-one spoke Afrikaans.
Tensions over language in education erupted into violence on 16 June 1976, when students took to the streets in Soweto and eventually in other towns and cities in the country.
Theschools suffered further damage as vandals damaged or destroyed school property. Students who tried to attend school and their teachers were attacked, and school staff found it increasingly difficult to maintain normal school activities.
The National Policy for General Affairs Act (No. 76) of 1984 provided some improvements in black education but maintained the overall separation called for by the Bantu education system.
The Department of Education and Training was responsible for black education outside the homelands. Each of the three houses of parliament–for whites, coloureds, and Indians–had an education department for one racial group.
Eachof the ten homelands had its own education department. In addition, several other government departments managed specific aspects of education.
Education was compulsory for all racial groups, but at different ages, and the law was enforced differently.
Whiteswere required to attend school between the ages of seven and sixteen. Black children were required to attend school from age seven until the equivalent of seventh grade or the age of sixteen.
Thislaw was enforced only weakly and not at all in areas where schools were unavailable.
ForAsians and coloured children, education was compulsory between the ages of seven and fifteen.
Teacher-pupil ratios in primary schools averaged 1:18 in white schools, 1:24 in Asian schools, 1:27 in coloured schools, and 1:39 in black schools. Moreover, whereas 96 percent of all teachers in white schools had teaching certificates, only 15 percent of teachers in black schools were certified.
Secondary-school pass rates for black pupils in the nationwide, standardised high-school graduation exams were less than one-half the pass rate for whites.
To be Continued…
