LIBERATION BEFORE EDUCATION (front)


In 1980 and 1983 there were two major urban school boycotts. Following the Soweto uprising on 16 June 1976, the government had agreed not to introduce Afrikaans as the language of instruction but little else had been done to improve education. Schools remained under-resourced and over-crowded, coupled with the significant decrease in results following hundreds of teachers resigning after 1977. The boycotts began in coloured schools in the Western Cape but rapidly spread throughout the country. ‘Liberation before education’ became the rallying cry and gained support in many townships.