Some aspects of education in South Africa

Since the time of Athens and Sparta, it has been argued that the future of any state depends very much on the amount of interest and energy that is devoted to education in the state. It is now realised that finance must also be added to this list. Despite the fact that this realisation has a long history, there are few educationists in any country in the world who are satisfied with the amounts of interest, energy and finance which are devoted to education. South Africa is no exception. In this series of papers, stress will be laid on education for Non-White peoples for two reasons. The first is that less is known about their problems. The second is that if South Africa is to continue to prosper, much will depend upon the products of the country's Non-White schools. The aim in this introductory paper will be to show how great this dependence is already, and how it is likely to increase in the future. Material will be taken from a recently published report on "Education and the South African Economy", (1) as this brings together in one volume much new material. The central theme of this report can be expressed in this way: "Over the past thirty-five years the rate of economic growth in South Africa has been remarkably steady, apart from normal cyclical fluctuations, at an average of 4 1/2 per cent per annum, after allowing for the falling purchasing power of money". (2)