Bantu Education Act, 1953
Bantu Education Act, 1953 | |
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Parliament of South Africa | |
Long title
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Citation | Act No. 47 of 1953 |
Enacted by | Parliament of South Africa |
Assented to | 5 October 1953 |
Administered by | Minister of Native Affairs (South Africa) |
Repealed by | |
Education and the Training Act of 1979 | |
Status: Repealed |
The Bantu Education Act 1953 (Act No. 47 of 1953; later renamed the Black Education Act, 1953) was a South African segregation law that legislated for several aspects of the apartheid system. Its major provision enforced racially-separated educational facilities;[1] Even universities were made "tribal", and all but three missionary schools chose to close down when the government would no longer help to support their schools. Very few authorities continued using their own finances to support education for native Africans.[2] In 1959, that type of education was extended to "non-white" universities and colleges with the Extension of University Education Act, 1959, and the University College of Fort Hare was taken over by the government and degraded to being part of the Bantu education system.[3] It is often argued that the policy of Bantu (African) education was aimed to direct black or non-white youth to the unskilled labour market[4] although Hendrik Verwoerd, the Minister of Native Affairs, claimed that the aim was to solve South Africa's "ethnic problems" by creating complementary economic and political units for different ethnic groups. A particular fear of the National Party that most likely led to the passing of this legislation was the rising number of children (known as tsotsis) joining urban gangs.
The ruling National Party viewed education as having a rather pivotal position in their goal of eventually separating South Africa from the Bantustans entirely. Verwoerd, the "Architect of Apartheid", stated:[2]
"There is no place for [the Bantu] in the European community above the level of certain forms of labour.... What is the use of teaching the Bantu child mathematics when it cannot use it in practice?"
The Act led to a substantial increase of government funding to the learning institutions of black Africans, but they did not keep up with the population increase.[5] The law forced institutions to be under the direct control of the state. The National Party now had the power to employ and train teachers as it saw fit.
Black teachers' salaries in 1953 were extremely low and resulted in a dramatic drop of trainee teachers. Only one third of the black teachers were qualified.[2]
The schools reserved for the country's white children were of Western standards. The Act did not stipulate lesser standards of education for non-whites, but it legislated for the establishment of an advisory board and directed the minister to do so. Of the black schools, 30% of had no electricity, 25% had no running water and more than half had no plumbing. Education for Blacks, Indians and Coloureds was substantially cheaper but not free, and the salaries of teachers were set at very low levels.[2]
In the 1970s, the per capita governmental spending on black education was one-tenth of the spending on white.[4]
In 1976, the Afrikaans Medium Decree of 1974, which forced all black schools to use both Afrikaans and English as languages of instruction from the last year of primary school, led to the Soweto Uprising in which more than 575 people died, at least 134 of them under the age of 18.[4][6]
The Act was repealed in 1979 by the Education and the Training Act of 1979, which continued the system of racially-segregated education but also eliminating both discrimination in tuition fees and the segregated Department of Bantu Education and allowed both the use of native tongue education until the fourth grade and a limited attendance at private schools as well.[7]
References
- ^ Nadine L. Moore, Faculty of Humanities University of Pretoria (2015). "IN CLASS OF THEIR OWN: THE BANTU EDUCATION ACT (1953) REVISITED" (PDF).
- ^ a b c d Clark, Domini; Nancy L. Clark; William H. Worger (2004). South Africa - The Rise and Fall of Apartheid. Seminar Studies in History. Pearson Education Limited. pp. 48–52. ISBN 0-582-41437-7.
- ^ Timeline of the University: 1959 Archived December 30, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. Official website of University of Fort Hare. Accessed 2007-12-03.
- ^ a b c Byrnes, Rita M. (1996). South Africa: A Country Study. Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress.
- ^ Giliomee H. (March 2009). "A Note on Bantu Education 1953-1970", South African Journal of Economics.
- ^ Boddy-Evans, Alistair (18 January 2021). "The Afrikaans Medium Decree". ThoughtCo. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
- ^ South Africa: Time Running Out : the Report of the Study Commission on U.S. Policy Toward Southern Africa. University of California Press. 15 September 1981. ISBN 9780520045477. Retrieved 15 September 2017 – via Google Books.
http://nmmu.ac.za/documents/mward/Bantu%20Education%20Act%201953.pdf[permanent dead link]
External links
- Article on apartheid and education that mentions the Bantu Act (in Dutch)
- "Bantu Education Act, Act No 47 of 1953", South African History Online.
- v
- t
- e
(before 1948)
- Hut tax (1884)
- Franchise and Ballot Act (1892)
- Glen Grey Act (1894)
- Natal Legislative Assembly Bill (1894)
- Transvaal Asiatic Registration Act (1906)
- South Africa Act (1909)
- Mines and Works Act (1911)
- Natives Land Act (1913)
- Natives (Urban Areas) Act (1923)
- Immorality Act (1927)
- Native Administration Act (1927)
- Representation of Natives Act (1936)
- Native Trust and Land Act (1936)
- Native (Urban Areas) Consolidation Act (1945)
- Asiatic Land Tenure Act (1946)
Verwoerd
(1948–1966)
- Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act (1949)
- Immorality Amendment Act (1950)
- Population Registration Act (1950)
- Group Areas Act (1950)
- Suppression of Communism Act (1950)
- Native Building Workers Act (1951)
- Separate Representation of Voters Act (1951)
- Prevention of Illegal Squatting Act (1951)
- Bantu Authorities Act (1951)
- Native Laws Amendment Act (1952)
- Pass Laws Act (1952)
- Public Safety Act (1953)
- Native Labour (Settlement of Disputes) Act (1953)
- Bantu Education Act (1953)
- Reservation of Separate Amenities Act (1953)
- Natives Resettlement Act (1954)
- Group Areas Development Act (1955)
- Riotous Assemblies Act (1956)
- Industrial Conciliation Act (1956)
- Natives (Prohibition of Interdicts) Act (1956)
- Immorality Act (1957)
- Bantu Investment Corporation Act (1959)
- Extension of University Education Act (1959)
- Promotion of Bantu Self-government Act (1959)
- Unlawful Organizations Act (1960)
- Indemnity Act (1961)
- Coloured Persons Communal Reserves Act (1961)
- Republic of South Africa Constitution Act (1961)
- Urban Bantu Councils Act (1961)
- General Law Amendment Act (1963)
- Coloured Persons Representative Council Act (1964)
(1966–1994)
- Terrorism Act (1967)
- Separate Representation of Voters Amendment Act (1968)
- Prohibition of Political Interference Act (1968)
- Bantu Homelands Citizenship Act (1970)
- Bantu Homelands Constitution Act (1971)
- Aliens Control Act (1973)
- Indemnity Act (1977)
- National Key Points Act (1980) - List of National Key Points
- Internal Security Act (1982)
- Intimidation Act (1982)
- Black Local Authorities Act (1982)
- Republic of South Africa Constitution Act (1983)
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