The Department of Bantu Education was an organization created by the National Party of South Africa in 1953. The Bantu Education Act, 1953 provided the legislative framework for this department.
Function of the department
Before the Bantu Education Act was passed, apartheid in education tended to be implemented in a haphazard and uneven manner. The purpose of the act was to consolidate Bantu education, i.e., education of black people, so that discriminatory educational practices could be uniformly implemented across South Africa. Previously, black education was administered by provincial governments. With the creation of the department, the central national government assumed control of all black education in South Africa. Racial segregation in education became mandatory under the Act.
Initially, a poll tax levied solely on black South Africans was collected to pay for Bantu education. throughout apartheid, black children were educated in classes with teacher-pupil ratios of 1:56. Teaching an apartheid-friendly version of Christian values to students was also prioritized. In educational materials, black culture was portrayed as primitive, rural, and unchanging. education in South Africa continues to be hampered by the legacy of the department and other institutions.