20th century – 20th century
Soweto, South Africa
The Soweto school boycott developed after the 1976 uprising as pupils rejected compulsory Afrikaans and challenged apartheid education. By August 1977, students had organised a total boycott of all secondary schools in Soweto, prompting more than half of the teachers to resign and forcing members of the Soweto Urban Bantu Council to resign. Divisions among pupils led some children back to school in 1978, but the conflict over educational reform continued.
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The Story
The school boycott that followed the Soweto uprising continued an earlier resistance to Bantu Education. The African National Congress had attempted to organise a school boycott when Bantu Education was introduced in 1953, but had failed. In the aftermath of 1976, pupils revived this tactic and directed it against compulsory Afrikaans and the wider system of educational control.
By August 1977, Soweto pupils had successfully organised a total boycott of all secondary schools. Their action had consequences beyond the classroom: in the midst of a deep economic recession, more than half of the teachers resigned, and members of the Soweto Urban Bantu Council were also forced to resign. The campaign demonstrated the capacity of schoolchildren to disrupt institutions that supported the apartheid order.
The government nevertheless retained substantial control over educational reform. In 1978, pupils became divided and some children returned to school. Teachers who remained continued to struggle with a heavy-handed bureaucracy whose declarations of change were not matched by action. The boycott therefore achieved important confrontational victories without resolving the larger institutional conflict over Black education.
20th century – 20th century
Soweto, South Africa
The Soweto school boycott developed after the 1976 uprising as pupils rejected compulsory Afrikaans and challenged apartheid education. By August 1977, students had organised a total boycott of all secondary schools in Soweto, prompting more than half of the teachers to resign and forcing members of the Soweto Urban Bantu Council to resign. Divisions among pupils led some children back to school in 1978, but the conflict over educational reform continued.
Continue exploring
The Story
The school boycott that followed the Soweto uprising continued an earlier resistance to Bantu Education. The African National Congress had attempted to organise a school boycott when Bantu Education was introduced in 1953, but had failed. In the aftermath of 1976, pupils revived this tactic and directed it against compulsory Afrikaans and the wider system of educational control.
By August 1977, Soweto pupils had successfully organised a total boycott of all secondary schools. Their action had consequences beyond the classroom: in the midst of a deep economic recession, more than half of the teachers resigned, and members of the Soweto Urban Bantu Council were also forced to resign. The campaign demonstrated the capacity of schoolchildren to disrupt institutions that supported the apartheid order.
The government nevertheless retained substantial control over educational reform. In 1978, pupils became divided and some children returned to school. Teachers who remained continued to struggle with a heavy-handed bureaucracy whose declarations of change were not matched by action. The boycott therefore achieved important confrontational victories without resolving the larger institutional conflict over Black education.
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