jan 1, 1954 - The Bantu Education Act

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The passage of the Bantu Education Act of 1953 was another landmark development of the apartheid system.

This new law made it mandatory for schools to admit children from one racial group only, and brought the education of all Africans under the direct control of the Native Affairs Department, headed by apartheid hardliner H.F. Verwoerd.

Under the Bantu Education Act, the education received by Black children would be grossly inferior to that enjoyed by Whites.

Beyond equipping Black children with extremely basic levels of literacy and numeracy, it was designed to furnish Africans with the rudimentary technical skills that would allow them to perform domestic service for Whites or, alternatively, sell their unskilled labour o the mining and manufacturing industries.

The ratio of government spending on a White child compared with a Black child was about 7:1.

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