The Classroom Struggle

In 1976, the schools of South Africa exploded in a gigantic youth rebellion. This revolt was to continue for years, becoming a major part of the resistance to Apartheid. Yet it arose from a schooling system designed to underpin Apartheid policy. This book provides a detailed portrait of both state education policy and the response of the populace to this policy by focusing on the day to day experiences of the teachers and students. This book provides a historical overview of apartheid education policy, and resistance to it. It shows how the "Bantu Education" system emerged out of the urbanization crisis of the 1940s, as an integral part of apartheid strategy. The 1950s saw the stifling of the resistance of teachers and parents, and the apparent stablization of the new system. But by the mid 1970s the internal conflicts produced the conditions for uprising.