The Bantu Education Act of 1953 was a pivotal law in South Africa’s apartheid system, designed to enforce racial segregation in education. The Act transferred control of black South African education from mission schools to the apartheid government, which implemented a curriculum tailored to prepare black students for roles as laborers and servants, rather than for academic or professional advancement.
Schools for black students were severely underfunded, overcrowded, and staffed with unqualified teachers, reflecting the government’s intent to keep black South Africans in a position of economic and social inferiority.
The Act deepened racial inequalities and contributed to the broader apartheid strategy of maintaining white supremacy by limiting the educational and economic opportunities available to black citizens. The Bantu Education Act had long-lasting effects, stifling the intellectual growth of generations of black South Africans and leaving a legacy of educational and socio-economic disparities that persist in the country today.
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