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II. Background

“Under the apartheid government, the farmer built the school and claimed a subsidy from the government.  It was in the interest of the farmer to have a school on his farm; it kept the children busy while their parents were working in the fields, created an available future labor force, and restricted possibilities for children outside the farm.”

            -Mpumalanga Department of Education official, May 15, 2003

Historically, education in South Africa was designed to assert white domination, and African race inferiority and continued under-development.² Education was a privilege and not a right for Africans. The National Party government, which was in office from 1948 to 1994, made provision for community schools, government schools, private, and state-aided schools.  Farm schools, which were partly subsidized by government and located on commercial farms, were established under the Bantu Education Act No. 47 of 1953 and classified as “state-aided” schools.  The Department of Education and Training, which regulated education for Africans, was directly responsible for these schools.  The purpose of the schools was “to create economic value for the farmers and to prevent migration into the cities.”³  These schools, which were attended by African children, were primarily designed to benefit the farmer by providing a level of education that would create a more efficient future farmworker.  Not only did the farm owner have access to the liberal use of child labor during harvest time, but also farmworkers themselves were less likely to leave a farm when their children were receiving an education.  These schools could be viewed as day care centers for “[children who] were getting into trouble all the time and bothering their parents who were busy working.”⁴ In line with the “Bantu education” policy, the families of African children were forced to shoulder the financial demands of going to school, such as fees, textbooks and stationery, which was not the case with their white counterparts.⁵

The farm owner had full control of the management of farm schools.⁶  This included responsibility for teacher selection and dismissal, maintaining school records and enrollment.   As managers of the school, the farm owners could remove the children during school hours to work on the farm.  Children from neighboring farms could attend the school with the permission of the farm owner on whose land the school was located.  Under a contract with the government, the farm owner received a 50 percent subsidy for building the school and maintaining services at the school.  The Department of Education supplied school furniture, learning materials and teachers’ salaries but no housing for teachers.  By 1986, out of the 5,399 farm schools in the country, only one offered secondary level education.  At that time, 76 percent of primary schools for African children in the country were located on commercial farms.⁷  Thirty-six percent of children living on farms of primary school-going age (that is between seven and thirteen) were not at school.⁸  Grade seven⁹ was the highest level of education in the majority of schools.

Following a 1986 report, The Provision of Education for Black Pupils in Rural Areas, which sought to resolve the ambiguities around the legality and governance of farm schools, the government promulgated the Education Laws (Education and Training) Amendment Act of 1988,¹⁰ which prohibited farmers from withdrawing children from schools to work.  A farm owner found in contravention of this law was liable to a fine or imprisonment not exceeding three months.¹¹  However, a farmer could employ children over fifteen who were not enrolled in school.  The amendment further encouraged the extension of the level of education at farm schools by providing for combined schools which incorporated primary and secondary school up to grade ten.  Government subsidies for the building of schools were raised from 50 percent to 75 percent.  This included the provision of housing for teachers. 

By 1994, with the new African National Congress (ANC)led government, the state subsidy fully covered the building costs, while the state contributed 50 percent of the maintenance costs.¹² In return, the farm owner had to enter into a contractual agreement with the provincial department of education to keep the school open for twenty years.  The farm owner was responsible for providing services such as water and electricity, and doing necessary repairs to the school.  By the time of the new constitutional dispensation in 1994 half of the African children living on white-owned commercial farms were not enrolled at school.¹³ Few schools offered secondary-level education by 1994.¹⁴ In the main, management of the school was the preserve of the farm owner.¹⁵

The 1996 Schools Act put in place a new legal framework for all schools in South Africa.  In particular, the law distinguishes between two types of schools - public and private.  Thus farms schools are classified as public schools on private property.  Provision is made for the transition of farm schools to public schools and in particular the roles and responsibilities of landowners and provincial government authorities in the right to education.

Since 1994 there has been a decline in the number of farm schools.  In 2000, there were 3,550 farm schools, which constitute 13 percent of all state-funded schools.¹⁶  Reasons for the decline of these schools include low enrollment, eviction of parents, farm owners’ request for closure, farm owners demanding compensation, amalgamation of schools and urbanization.¹⁷