After the proclamation of the Bantu Education Act, black communities in South Africa organized a big boycott. This new law created two types of schools in the country, schools for blacks and schools for whites. The families who were concerned by this new racist system did not agree to involve in it and removed their children from government-controlled schools.
The black schools had fewer funds, so they were lack of teachers, poor education, and bad buildings with no access to water or electricity. Because of it, the parents refused to continue to send their children there, so they created a system of parallel education where they taught the children by themselves.
It was forbidden to create schools outside the authority of government, so they called these places cultural clubs to hide their real teaching activities.
However, seeing that the black schools were empty, the South African government understood what was happening quickly. They began to threaten the children and parents who participated in these clubs. Afraid of what could happen to them, many parents decided to send their children back to mainstream schools, but some clubs continued to operate secretly for many years.
Subject: History
Chapter: Nelson Mandela & South Africa
Keywords: apartheid, racism, South Africa, boycott, Bantu education, Bantu act
