Was SA’s education better with PW Botha?

Acommon method of shocking people about the failures of the ANC government is to declare things were better under apartheid. Paul Kirk, a journalist, used this method by saying on Facebook education and health were better under PW Botha than now. Dianne Kohler Barnard, a spirited, competent, honest, completely non-racist DA politician, foolishly reposted his message. This rather trivial matter, essentially a joke gone wrong, has caused a huge uproar.

In general, all people are far better off now under democracy. But there are some instances where things are now worse than they were under apartheid. These include unemployment, life-expectancy and electricity supply. The greatest failure of the ANC has been in the education of most black children. Here some schools might actually be worse than they were under Bantu Education.

Under apartheid and under the ANC, there has been a dual system of education for black children.

Under apartheid it was theoretical. In the “white areas” black children would be educated only up to the level needed by labourers and servants. But in the “homelands” or Bantustans they would be educated to the highest levels to become brain surgeons, engineers, professors or whatever. Naturally, because grand apartheid was just a cruel fantasy, the second part never happened.

Under the ANC the dual system is real. The overwhelming majority of black children receive an appalling education in township or rural schools ruled by Sadtu teachers who do not give a damn about them. A small minority of black children, whose parents are ANC politicians, rich professional people or Sadtu teachers, attend private schools or model C schools.

Under the ANC, a rich elite get a good education and the poor majority a dreadful one. This is why in international tests South African children get the worst results in the world, especially in maths and science.

The one thing you must say about the Afrikaners who ran apartheid, including PW Botha, was they really did care about the education of all Afrikaner children. Under democracy the ANC seems to care little about the education of poor black African children.