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Education has changed a lot over the years in terms of approaches, methods and techniques of
teaching and learning in education. The education that was provided long time ago is totally
different to the current education. The below essay will give more details about the provision
of education for European prior settlement, mission education and apartheid education where
a perspective of all racial groups during apartheid will be provided. There are aspects like the
nature, focus and purpose of the curriculum, the ideology that supported the way in which
education was planned and provided, and the medium of instruction.
Pre-colonial education
The education that was provided from pre-colonial time to present time was driven by
prevailing of belief and value systems of the time. The education provide by the indigenous
people was geared towards the survival and include meeting the basic necessities of life.
Factors like economy, poverty, social and political played a role in the provision of long time
ago education. The European settlers who came to the united states prior to the revolutionary
war generally placed a great deal of emphasis on moral education. This was particularly true
of the Pilgrims and Puritans who arrived in the New World in 1620 and 1630 respectively.
The focus on character education that the early European settlers had was especially
important because it established a foundation from which all other Americans built, said
(Barlyn 1960). Some of the most salient accomplishment in American educational history
were made in the first few decades after the arrival of the Pilgrims and Puritans in particular.
In generally educational historians assessed that before the American Revolution education in
America was primary concerned with the development of a Godly life. Initially there were no
schools for Europeans settlement, even after the first school was opened, many children did
not go to school due to the harsh condition or the needy for children to work alongside.
Education during Dutch colonisation
Dutch Protestant religion and associated education system were transformed to the Cape from
Holland. The Canon of Dort which was adopted in 1618 as a religious direction of the church
in Holland, outlined the purpose and nature of education. The good schoolmasters who shall
not only instruct children with writing, reading, languages and liberal arts were served as
teachers. Education in Europe was not compulsory but those who wanted their children to
educate generally were employ governor to teach at home. The education during Dutch was
consist predominantly of learning to read, write and do calculations. The content of education
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was derived from the Bible and the primary aim of learning to read was enable people to read
Bible. This was the kind of education that require people to become the member of the
church. This was helped people to read and write their names
The first school was established in 1658 at cape colony, which was for young slave children
who had been aboard the Amersfoot. The second school was established in 1663 for 12
colonist children, 4 slave children and one Khoikhoi child attend the school, which taught
them to read and write and provide religious instruction. The slave children had to learn
Dutch so that they would be able to understand their masters. In 1700, the school was
established to teach in French but they used Dutch as the medium of instruction to ensure the
assimilation of the French community to cope in Dutch way of life, because the Dutch and
French had the same refugee that was no conflict between them.
Education under the British
The British education system was much more liberal and secular than Dutch education.
British inherited a poorly structure and administered education system from Dutch, standard
were poor, teachers were poorly qualified and were insufficient school building. The British
were obliged to take action towards Dutch to introduce education that is based on religious
principles, the establishment of monitor schools and introduction of English as a medium of
instruction. This system allowed the authorities to make primary schooling accessible to a
great number of children. Because education based on religious principle was so important to
Dutch, Cradock made sure that education retained its religious nature and implemented the
monitor system that had recently been put into practice in British, to address the core
educational dilemma and provide and all of the children of Colony with schooling. The
principle of Christianity, reading, writing and arithmetic could be taught through a simple and
inexpensive method that did not require a large number of teachers.
Mission education
During the 1790s, there was major increase in missionary zeal in Europe and mission work
was extended to other part of the world. Education was on essential for spreading
Christianity. It was common for missionaries to establish a school at the same time as they
founded a church in order to promote learning and understanding of Christianity. Schimidts
school provided education for 70 women, 70 children and 30 men who attend at different
times of the day. He stop to work because according to some of the colonists and ministers of
Dutch Reformed Church, he was not pure in doctrine, he was qualified in the doctrine of the
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Reformed Church. The problem was that Schimid and his staff treated KhoiKhoi as friend
and equal, proposed giving them an education that was not available for children. The school
of boys and the girls were attended by 61 children. The first missionary group to arrive at
Colony was London mission, which encourage to establish mission station of the frontier to
bring hope and harmony to the region. In 1850, the ABM had established 12 mission station,
each with on school.
In this mission government grants were available. The school were classified as industrial,
agriculture and academic school. The black people were provided with formal education by
the first mission, which protect the missionaries and generally maintained a positive attitude
towards their activities and the development of written forms of language of various black
people and the subsequent translation of the bible, hymnbook, catachisms and school readers
into Pedi and Tswana. The mission brought gospel to practically every tribe in sub-continent
in 1845, excluded those living in far northern Transvaal and Zimbabwe. The mission enabled
the spread of literature not only the bible and hymn book in the vernaculate language.
Education of white children
During the years where the National Party was in power, the education was Christianity
Nationalism. The National Education Policy Act, which was applied to whites children in
1967 was passed. The act brought control of education under the auspices of the minister of
education, arts and science. The education policy was developed because of the need of
consultation with the administrators of various provinces and National Advisor Education
Council. The education was control by the state, education had the religious nature, medium
of instruction which was Afrikaans or English, all resources were provided and parents
teacher association and school committees or board could be established. The act provided
instructions with Afrikaans as it pleased the speaking of Afrikaans, and it also had the distinct
Christianity foundation and promoted the love for own culture. There was the equal education
opportunity and standard for every white children in South Africa, regarding race, colour and
sex. The education had to recognise the individual freedom of choice and had to be provided
in an educationally responsible manner to meet the need of the country.
Education for coloureds and Indians children
The education for coloured was introduce in Natal. Parents were accommodated to send their
children to government or government aide school in the age 7-15. Government schools
were established for coloured children but the mission schools were more popular than
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coloured school. The coloureds and whites followed the same curriculum. After World War 1
and World War 2, the mixed school were opened for education of Indians and coloureds in
Transvaal, which bring huge enrolment. The number of coloureds and Indians increase,
coloureds increased by 36%, Indians increased by 36% and 28 schools provide education to
both groups. Platoon classes, student were divided into 2 platoons above the primary grades,
one platoon used the academic classrooms, while the second platoon did practical outdoor
subject. The attendance was divided, the half attend in the morning and the other half attend
in the afternoon. The transfer of primary and secondary schools for both groups from
provincial to central was completed in 1967. The compulsory education was introduced by
the acts.
Education for Black children
The mission schools provided education for black children. When the National Party was in
power, it was where the country experience multiple urbanisation and industrialisation. The
missionarys finances and ability continued to providing education that was impacted by
Europe. The condition and provision of schooling for black children was improved by the
government. The large number of weaknesses on the system of education, lack of control and
inadequate supervision to overemphasis on academic without taking socio-economic
development need of the country was discovered by the commission. The recommendation of
Eiselen Commission resulted in prolgation of Bantu Education Act of 1953. The report
formed new education system for black provided for culturally based education.
The school that was present was overcrowded. Children were learnt to read, write and
arithmetic from sub-standard to standard 2, the high primary school provided schooling up to
standard 6, where they were taught by English and Afrikaans. There was the separation of
strands in education, there was academic and vocational strands. The post-primary provided
an opportunity for school leaves to enter tertiary education and post-matric training. The first
four years the medium of instruction was mother tongue.
Resistance of Bantu education
The Bantu Education Act, was the first legislation for black children that lack of planning,
boycott aimed anti-Bantu Education, which was limited to the East Rand and Eastern Cape.
During the resistance there was March and burning down of buildings, the government said
that children who returned to school should be expelled. There were cultural clubs which was

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well and used songs taught children in some subject like Maths, History and they also used
their general knowledge and the school remained active.
New education in South Africa
There is a link between education and politics, in the fact that education influenced politics
and politics influenced education. During 1994 when the ANC came to power, there was a
new education system in South Africa. The initial proposition were probably to idealistic for
the country in which education for the majority had been disrupted significant for a number
of decades. There are many changes in the provision of education in the past and more
preparation of the youth for better future as worthy and resourceful citizen of South Africa.
There is an education for all people in the country, there is no racism all we learn from one
class or school
The essay discussed the provision of education from the precolonial to present times in South
Africa, which shows that education was driven by prevailing beliefs and value systems of the
times. The social and politics factors played their role to the establishment of ideology of
those in government education. The education provided by indigenous people was geared
towards survival basic necessities

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