THE PHELPS-STOKES EDUCATION

COMMISSION IN SOUTH AFRICA

BY C. T. LORAM, M.A., LL.B., PH.D.

IN the opinion of many, the greatest contribution which

America has made to pedagogical theory and practice has
been its inquiring and pragmatical outlook on educational
institutions and their products. Where other nations are
prepared to base an educational system on authority or
tradition, the Americans are always ready to investigate
systems of education to find out if they really do produce
the results alleged, and if these results are in the best
interests of society. Of the need for such a critical attitude
of mind and for periodical investigations into educational
theory and practice, students of educational history are
well aware, for with no other section of the community
do the idols of the cave and of the market-place hold
greater sway than with schoolmasters, who, by the very
nature of their calling as carried on to-day, are so apt
to become dogmatic and conservative in their outlook on
life and education.
Philanthropic and mission education have probably
suffered more than other types of education from this
restricted outlook on the problems of the day, partly
because of the narrow training received by so many mission-
aries, which results in an educational outlook untouched
by the illuminating studies of psychology, sociology and
anthropology, and partly because the educands-to use
Professor Adams’ useful word-are by reason of their
ignorance and dependence unable to be critical of the
education meted out to them. The need for a body of
competent educators capable of criticizing constructively
496
 Education in South Africa 497
the work of well-intentioned but often misdirected mission
institutions has been supplied by the Phelps-Stokes Fund,
which has undertaken the highly important task of sur-
veying the educational work of missions and philanthropic
bodies in America and elsewhere, and of making educational
use of its criticisms through a wise and generous publicity
and by affording or introducing moral and material assist-
ance for deserving institutions and causes. It is estimated
that thousands of pounds are wasted yearly through the
undiscriminating charity of philanthropists, and this is
especially the case with Negro education, for many good
people think it sufficient if the black folk have churches
and schools without inquiring what kinds of schools and
what kinds of churches they have and ought to have.
After completing an exhaustive study of the education
of the American Negro and publishing a report which has
become and must remain for a long time to come the
authoritative statement of the Negro's educational situa-
tion,' the trustees of the Fund very generously acceded
to the request of mission bodies in America and Europe t o
arrange for a co-operative study of the systems of mission
education in Equatorial, West and South Africa, with
particular reference to the suitability of the education
given to the needs of the African peoples. The personnel
of the African Educational Commission, as it was called,
consisted of Dr Thomas Jesse Jones, the educational
director of the Phelps-Stokes Fund, as chairman, Mr L. A.
Roy, secretary and a specialist in industrial education,
Dr H. E. Hollenbeck, a medical missionary with special
knowledge of health conditions in the tropics, Dr J. E. K.
Aggrey, a Native of the Gold Coast and lecturer in sociology
and economics in Livingstone College, North Carolina,
and certain missionaries and educators co-opted during
the tour for their knowledge of local conditions. It was
1 Negro Education :A Study of the Private and Higher Schools for Coloured People i.8
the United States. Prepared in co-operation with the Phelps-Stokes Fund under the
direction of Thomas Jesse Jones, specialist in the education of racial groups, Bureau of
Education. 2 vols. Washington : Government Printing Office. 1917.
32
498 Internationad Review of Missions
the writer’s privilege and good fortune to be attached
to the Commission by the Government of South Africa
at the request of Dr Jones and his associates and to accom-
pany it through its South African tour from February 12
to April 2, 1921. During this time we travelled over 7000
miles together, visited educational institutions in the four
provinces and Rhodesia, and discussed the education of
natives with teachers, missionaries and government officials.
The administration of Native education in the Union
of South Africa devolves upon the provincial governments,
except in the case of the South African Native College
at Fort Hare near Lovedale, which, being an institution
of ‘higher education,’ comes under the direction of the
Union Department of Education. The treatment, financial
and otherwise, afforded to the Native schools by the four
provinces is very much a reflex of the attitudes towards
the Native peoples as a whole, the Cape Province being
undoubtedly the most liberal. The number of the Native
schools under government supervision or aid in the several
provinces and the amounts spent on Coloured and Native
education during the year 1918 were as follows: Cape,
2008 schools and 2230,489; Natal, 398 schools and
250,992 ; Transvaal, 346 schools and 242,260 ; Orange
Free State, 125 schools and 24000.
All these provinces differ in administration, curricula,
classification of teachers, etc., so that it is not possible t o
speak of a South African system of Native education. All
the provinces, except the Orange Free State, have now
separate sub-departments of Native Education, but it was
felt by the Commission that it would be more economical
and would lead t o better work if the administration and
control of Native education were placed in the hands of the
Union Government. The chief argument in favour of
this is that, since Native affairs have been vested by the
Act of Union in the Central Government, it is difficult
to have Native schools, which are so closely bound up
with the development of the Native people, controlled by
 E h c a t i o n i-yz Sozith Africa 499
another authority. Further arguments are the disadvan-
tages of the different standards of education, the possi-
bility of a parochial attitude in what should be a national
matter, and the inequalities of financial treatment. The
Native in the Transvaal who pays two pounds per annum
in poll tax, cannot understand why his brother in the Cape,
who pays only ten shillings per hut, should receive educa-
tional advantages so much greater. There is, indeed, a
strong movement in the Transvaal and Orange Free State,
both from Europeans and Natives, in favour of Union
control, which is, however, counteracted by opinions in the
Cape and Natal, where it is feared that any Union control
might result in a levelling down to the standards of the
Transvaal and Orange Free State instead of a levelling
up to the standards of the Cape and Natal.
Almost all the Native schools in South Africa are con-
ducted by mission bodies with financial assistance from the
provincial Governments. I n the Cape, however, there are
a number of schools, especially in urban areas, controlled
by the school boards, while in Natal the Provincial Depart-
ment of Education conducts fifty Native schools with the
help of school committees. There is a growing demand from
the Natives for state as opposed t o mission education, and
much as we may deplore the apparent lack of gratitude for
past missionary effort it would not be wise to resist the
establishment of government schools provided that satis-
factory provision is made for religious instruction. The
Commission felt that a satisfactory way out of the difficulty
had been found in Natal, where the Government at the
request of the missionaries took over their schools, paid a
rent for the use of the building during school hours, retained
the missionary as chairman of the school committee and
introduced a government syllabus of religious instruction
which had been drawn up by the Native Education
Advisory Board, which is a board of missionaries con-
stituted by Statute. The establishment of a government
Native school has often been the means of ending de-
500 InternationaZ Review o f Missions
nominational rivalry and of relieving a financially harassed
missionary for evangelistic work. The Commission noticed
that there was genuine appreciation 'on the part of the
Government and Europeans of the work done by missionary
bodies and that it was not likely that any system of
Native education would be evolved which did not per-
petuate Christian teaching and secure the co-operation of
missionaries.
With regard to school buildings the position in South
Africa is chaotic. For the most part the schools are con-
ducted in the church buildings erected by the Natives,
which are generally speaking poorly built, ill lighted and
badly ventilated. The tradition of the narrow Gothic
church window of Europe has been imposed upon a country
where the climate is tropical, and among a people who,
more than most, need ventilation and fresh air. This
tradition gains the greater support from the fact that
window glass is dear. A surprising lack of enterprise
on the part of the mission authorities and state depart-
ments is apparent in the matter of buildings. It would have
been an easy matter for either of these bodies t o draw up
and distribute among the Natives plans of suitable build-
ings which could be used for church services on Sundays and
for school on week-days. A similar lack of planning and
forethought was noticeable in the larger institutions, which
appear to have been built as if the number of students
could be definitely fixed for once and all. One wonders
why it could not have been possible to arrange for a plan
which could have been added t o as needs increased. The
waste involved in faulty planning and unnecessary orna-
mentation must have been considerable. Exceptions t o
the general run of poorness of buildings were manifested
by the day schools of the American Zulu Mission in Natal
where the society receives half of the rents of the dwellers
on the mission reserves, and the South African Native
College at Fort Hare, which has secured the maximum
amount of space and equipment at the minimum cost.
 Edacation in Soath Africa 5 01
I n connexion with the lay-out of schools, the entire
absence of trees and, except in Natal, of gardens was very
noticeable in the day schools. The little wood and iron or
wattle and daub schoolhouse is planted down on the bare
veld. Rarely is the land fenced and in no cases did we
find any attempt to plant trees. The expense of fencing
material, the depredations of goats, but, above all, the
literary nature of the curriculum have prevented the school
teachers and committees from attending to afforestation
and gardening, two undertakings upon which the future
of the South African Native must depend. The contrast
in Natal, where agriculture and gardening are compulsory
subjects, was most marked, but here, too, the authorities
were struggling against the tradition of literary education.
Lavatory and sanitary conveniences were almost entirely
lacking in the ordinary day schools, except in the towns.
The children drink from the nearest stream and defaxate
on the veld in old-time Native fashion, so that when they
come to town it is not easy to induce them to make use
of the conveniences of city life. The standard of school
and personal cleanliness varies very considerably. The
children in the schools almost without exception wear
European clothes, and when during the war clothing was so
expensive and the authorities were willing to allow the
children to come to school in their primitive clothing of
skins, the tradition of European clothing for school was
so strong that no advantage was taken of the concession.
The Commission took particular care to inspect the dor-
mitories of boarding institutions, where it was found that
provision, cleanliness and order were generally satisfactory
in the case of girls but wanting in the case of boys. The
use of beds was by no means universal. This was a failing
in the eyes of the majority of the Commission, which
regarded the use of raised sleeping-places as marking a
definite stage in the development of the people.
The system of instruction is based on British tradition
and is not easily susceptible of adaptation t o the needs of
502 Internationad Review of Missions
the Natives. I n the Cape, the largest and most thickly
populated province, where it has always been part of the
political creed to minimize the differences between White
and Black, the Natives and Europeans have the same
syllabus, although the needs of the people must be very
different. Natives of the Cape, brought up on these
traditions and painfully aware that any discrimination
in race treatment has generally been against the Blacks,
have resisted the feeble attempts which have been made
by educational commissions and a few institutions t o
provide them with a special system of education. In the
other provinces, where the feeling towards the Natives
has not been so liberal, a separate code has been drawn up.
I n some cases this has been a watered-down adaptation
of the European code, but in others it has been a definite
attempt to make the education suit the people.
Illustrations of the general lack of adaptation of educa-
tion can best be furnished by grouping together racial
needs in South Africa and the existing education treatment.
(1) The greatest of all South African problems is the
matter of race-adjustment, the so-called Native Question,
yet-
Sociology as a university study is not more than a few
years old, and is only taken by a few white students and
by no Native students.
(2) The ravages of disease among Natives are tcrrible,
the infant mortality in certain areas reaching the appalling
figure of 450 per 1000, yet-
The study of hygiene and instruction in the rearing of
infants are undertaken as a school subject in not more than
15 per cent of the schools.
(3) Probably 90 per cent of the pupils who leave the
Native schools will have to earn their living with their
hands, yet-
I n less than 10 per cent of the schools are trades and
manual training adequately taught.
(4) The majority of the male pupils will work on the
 Education i~ Sozdh A f r i c a 503
land either for themselves or for a European employer,
yet-
There is only one properly equipped agricultural school
in the Union, only in one province are gardening and
agriculture compulsory subjects and the education of the
bulk of the pupils is fitting them for clerical employ-
ment only.
It should be recorded that the provincial authorities
are aware of this lack in the syllabus of the Native schools,
and that practically all the courses of study are in course of
reconstruction.
Perhaps the finest example of educational adaptation
seen by the Commission was the Farm and Agricultural
School conducted by the Rhodesian Government at
Chindamora, a few miles out of Salisbury. Chindamora
Native Reserve is about 120,000 acres in extent, and in
water, timber and soil conditions is probably typical of
Native Reserve land in Rhodesia. Of this land a portion
of some 600 acres was chosen for the government school,
and to this the Director of Native Development, Mr. H. S.
Keigwin, brought three teachers and about forty pupils.
Using nothing but the tools possessed by almost every
Native, the teachers and pupils cleared the bush, felled
the timber, built the pisk-de-terre classrooms and began
to till the soil. The course of study is of ten hours’ dura-
tion per diem, seven of which are given t o practical and
manual instruction, and three to literary work. The
practical work seemed to be excellent but the literary work
was on somewhat barren lines. The school was fortunate
in having a situation from real life for its curriculum and
one wonders how the work will prosper when the real
Robinson Crusoe conditions have been overcome. The
Commission felt that an extension of part at least of this
practical work to the rest of the schools in Rhodesia would
be of advantage.
No survey of Native education in South Africa would
be complete without reference to the South African Native
504 InternationaZ Review of Missions
College, a t Fort Hare, near Lovedale. Many years ago the
great Stewart of Lovedale had looked forward to the time
when it would be possible for the studious and ambitious
Native to receive a university education in this country
instead of being compelled to go overseas, where neither
the education received in school nor the political and social
views prevailing would suit him on his return t o South
Africa. The famous Native Affairs Commission of 1903-
1905 blessed the proposal and after a long struggle t o
obtain the necessary support and funds the College was
opened in February 1916, by the late AGeneral Botha,
Prime Minister of the Union, with an enrolment of twenty
students. The College has been very fortunate in the
personnel of its governing council, its principal and its
staff, so that it has prospered, and has to-day its comple-
ment of more than seventy students drawn from all parts
of the Union. The Commission was very appreciative of
the efforts which were being made to meet the legitimate
educational aspirations of the Natives and stated that
this institution compared favourably with similar institu-
tions in America. They felt that the authorities were wise
in maintaining a high standard of work in the College,
for the low educational standard of the so-called Negro
universities was a source of weakness to Negro education
in America. A t the same time it seemed to the Com-
mission that the instruction was unduly and unnecessarily
academic. Not only was the value of the Latin very
doubtful in the case of Natives, but it seemed that the
teaching of psychology, mathematics and science could
have had a much more direct bearing on the needs of the
students. The omission of such studies as sociology,
politics, economics and education seemed to be serious
in view of the urgent need for Native leaders of education
and ability. It is understood that steps have already
been taken to supply these needs. The College will,
however, never be able to exert its maximum influence
for good among the Natives until it obtains its university
 Education in Soztth Africa 505
charter, and can free itself from the trammels of a university
designed to meet the needs of European students. The
feeling in favour of a separate university for Natives is so
strong that there is little doubt that a charter would be
given as soon as a sufficient number of students had been
obtained.
The Commission did not restrict itself to a mere ex-
amination of the educational conditions in South Africa,
but studied the social and political environment to ascer-
tain how far these reacted on the educational situation.
It seemed to them to be of the utmost importance that
there should be a reasonable outlet for the educated Native
to earn an honest living, to dwell under decent conditions
and to have some voice in the management of his affairs.
With regard to the first of these points it seemed to the
Commission that the natural and safest employment for
the Natives was on the land, and that until sufficient land
had been made available for Natives it wouId be difficult
to make them enthusiastic for the teaching of agriculture
in school. They felt, too, that communal occupation of
land would soon have to give way to a system of individual
tenure such as obtains in the Transkei. With regard to
industrial employment it seemed that a clash between the
White and the Coloured industrialist could be best avoided
by training the Natives more as the men of all work needed
by their fellows than as the skilled craftsmen required by
the European. The members of the Commission were
struck, as all visitors to South Africa were struck, by the
uneconomical use which is made of Coloured labour.
Native wages were found to be very low when compared
with the wages paid for similar labour in the United States,
but in the absence of accurate information it was difficult
to estimate the relation between wages and living con-
ditions. There seemed to be a lack of any machinery
for the regulation of wages as between employers and their
Native workmen, and this appeared to be one of the duties
which the rapidly increasing Native Welfare Association
506 Intern ntional Review of Missions
could take up. It would probably be necessary for the
Trades Union movement t o spread t o the Natives.
The housing conditions of Natives in urban areas were
very bad, and compared unfavourably with housing in
America. I n only two of the larger cities, Durban and
Bloemfontein, had any adequate attempt been made to
deal with the question. I n others the Natives have been
placed in locations or have been allowed t o squat upon the
town lands where they have built themselves shacks of
wattle and daub, stones and paraffin tins, which are not
only eyesores but are positive dangers t o thc morality
and health of the Europeans and Natives alike. Con-
tagious diseases are more or less always prevalent in these
locations, and in the one location where there has been a
serious attempt t o keep vital statistics, more than half the
births registered in 1918 were illegitimate. Unhappily
in most cases the Natives in the municipal locations are
exploited for the purpose of the municipal revenue. Thus
of the 217 towns reporting to the Secretary for Native
Affairs for the year 1916-1917 no fewer than 191 derived
more from Native revenue than they expended on Native
services. Sixty-four towns which received revenue from
Natives varying from 22 to E806 frankly returned ‘Nil’
as the amount of their expenditure on Native services.
It appeared that Government had contemplated legislation
on this subject as far back as 1912, but that this had been
delayed until this year by reason of the war.
With regard t o political development the situation is
extremely interesting. I n the Cape Province there is no
colour bar as regards the franchise and any male Native
who can fill up the registration form and owns property to
the value of 275, or is in receipt of wages of %50 and over,
is entitled t o the vote for the union and provincial parlia-
ment, though he can only sit as a member in the provincial
parliament. I n the other provinces the Native has neither
a vote nor the right t o a seat. I n three Native territories,
however, Glen Grey, the Transkei and Western Pondoland,
 Education in .Sow” Africa 507
there are systems of local self-government by which the
Natives tax themselves, expend the money, amounting
to well over one hundred thousand pounds in the case of
the Transkei, on education, public works and health, and
offer advice t o the Union Government on matters affecting
Native legislation. The usual plan is t o have a district
council in each magisterial area which elects t o adopt
the system. Each council consists of the magistrate and
six members, and from these council members are elected
or nominated to the annual Bhunga or parliament, which
consists at present of the Chief Magistrate as chairman,
eighteen European magistrates, and fifty-four native
councillors. The Commission in its tour through the
Transkei where the system is seen a t its best, felt that it
suited admirably the present political needs of the Natives,
and provided that the constitution and procedure of the
Bhunga kept pace with the Natives’ development it would
be an excellent means of educating the people in self-
government.
By way of summary, it is anticipated that the recom-
mendations of the Commission as far as South Africa is
concerned will include the following points :
1. The assumption by the Union Government of the
control and administration of Native education.
2 . The establishment of a system of government Native
schools, each school t o be under the local management
of a School Committee on which the missionaries and
parents are represented.
3. The preparation of plans of suitable school buildings
and their distribution among missionaries and Natives.
4. The development of afforestation and agriculture
in the Native schools and so throughout the Native terri-
tories.
5 . The enrichment of the curriculum by subjects of
special value to Natives such as Hygiene, Nature Study,
Native Crafts and other forms of Manual Training.
6. The gradual elimination from the curriculum of the
508 International Review o f Missions
South African Native College of subjects of academic
value only and the substitution of such studies as politics,
economics, sociology, in preparation for Native leadership,
and technical studies such as education, medicine and
dentistry .
7. The development of a system of industrial education
for Rhodesia on the lines of the work done a t Chindamora
and the closer linking up of the mission and governmenl
schools in that country.
8 . The acceptance of a general Native policy in SoutE
Africa with which the work of the schools may be con,
nected, such policy to make provision for the political
economic (agricultural and urban) and social needs of thc
Native people.
C. T. LORAM