Bantu Education: A Criminal Injustice

"Perhaps the greatest crime that can be inflicted on any people is to strike a blow at its youth - the most defenseless" - Jane Gool.

As we well know that the youth can be considered a force to be reckoned with. This was witnessed with the fight against Apartheid, where the youth fought equally hard to see that justice is brought to all. This fight was particularly fueled by the passing of Bantu Education Act which was passed in 1953, under the leadership of Verwoerd and was designed with the intent of depriving our youth from obtaining an equal, quality education (Gool, 1966). The justification of the government being that black people were being misled by the education system into thinking that there were opportunities and a place for them within a European society, which was not the case (Gool, 1966).

Black students were forced to learn some of their subjects in Afrikaans, and what made this worse is that they were being taught by teachers who were not skilled in the language which profusely impacted their learning and caused significant hindrances, particularly with subjects such as mathematics and arithmetic, and history, to name a few (Gool, 1966). Not only was the quality of the education severely inferior, the infrastructure was also of an inferior standard, as these black students were largely taught in tents, halls, stoeps, or otherwise dilapidated buildings (Gool, 1966). Though the hunger for education among these students was so great, there was no opportunity for that hunger to be satisfied, as the government exerted every effort to keep these youth oppressed and deprived of the one thing they desired most - knowledge (Gool, 1966).

After decades of being subjected to this educational injustice, students took to the streets and decided to fight back and stand up for their beliefs - to stand up for their rights. Many students sacrificed their education, and even their lives to ensure that justice was served. It was these brave acts of courage that broke the chains of Apartheid in education and paved the way to freedom for them, and freedom for all.

Reference: Gool, J. (1966). The crimes of bantu education in south africa. Unity Movement Publication.

Link: http://www.apdusa.org.za/wp-content/books/crimes.of.bantu.education.pdf