Effects Of Bantu Education

One of the biggest atrocities during the apartheid, at the result of segregation, was the Bantu Education Act. This had one of the biggest implications from the psychological damage occurred by the apartheid to a countless number of communities. The Bantu Education Act was produced to, “serve the labor needs of the capitalist class and to reinforce ethnic divisions among Africans. With the intent to “retribalize”, which would result in fragmenting communities deterring the development of African nationalism (Kallawau, 1986)”. It was aimed to internalize false ideologies of race and racial domination for those who it affected, and further the economic inequalities. This was done specifically by strengthening the wealth gap between black and

This then created a false history and a false sense of identity among black youth. This internalization had devastating effects on all aspects of the community, internally and externally.

Education was one of the main mechanisms used during the apartheid to maintain social order in South Africa. Education was highly segregated, “education has been manipulated for stratification purposes, that is, how it is being used as an instrument of social engineering (SOURCE)”. Education is known as one of the main socializing factors, according to Emile Durkheim. Schooling has two effects, for children to learn basic facts and for children to learn to be a part of group. In the case of Bantu Education, black children were learning to be submissive in the world; through this Bantu education they were learning their “place” in the apartheid structure. Before the apartheid, an education for black people was severely discouraged because that is how the white elite maintains their authority and control over black people. School segregation was prioritized, and schooling was separated by ethnicity. This enforced a clear ethnic competition. Funding for schooling and

The lack of funding along with the overcrowding, untrained teachers, and shortage of resources severely stifled the black community. Because of these troubling realities, many students dropped out of school, with many of these individuals only able to find low paying jobs (Subreenduth). When students see that their education is not valued at all, or that it is even being manipulated to embed a false narrative of your community, you will inevitably internalize the one’s place in society. You are living almost like a soldier, always fighting for equality and what one truly deserves. Like stated earlier, education is one of the most important socializing tools of society. School is where children learn to become a part of a group; it is where one is suppose to fin their place in society, “Education is being used to socialize everyone into their values, norms, myths and ideology of the ruling class (SOURCE)”. This socialization in schools does not just effect the black community, it also affected the white community. Just as the black community is being socialized in a way that devalues them as a person, white children were being socialized in a way that upheld their ideas of racial superiority. The curriculum of these schools just reinforced the existing social order of South