Students protest against apartheid in 1976. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)
Popular radical education has a long tradition in South Africa, one that is intertwined with the country’s history of resistance against oppression. From the night schools run by the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA) in the early 20th century to the workers’ education initiatives by trade unions and the People’s Education movement spearheaded by the United Democratic Front (UDF) in the 1970s and 1980s, these efforts aimed to empower the oppressed through critical knowledge. The social inequalities that endure today, despite the arrival of liberal democracy in 1994, call for a reimagining of this tradition.
The roots of popular radical education in South Africa go back to the CPSA in the 1920s and 1930s. At a time when the majority of black South Africans were denied access to formal education, the communist party organised night schools in urban areas, particularly in mining communities. These schools aimed not only to provide basic literacy and numeracy, but to develop a class consciousness among workers, helping them understand their exploitation under capitalism and their role in the broader struggle for liberation. These classes did not function as charitable endeavours; they were part of a political project to equip workers with the knowledge necessary to challenge the structures of colonialism and apartheid.
In a country where formal education was designed to perpetuate inequality, these night schools served as alternative, clandestine, spaces for political education. They established the groundwork for the trade union movement and the mass mobilisations that would follow in later decades.
The tradition of radical education also found expression in the workers’ education initiatives championed by trade unions, particularly in the 1970s and 1980s. This was especially evident after the Durban strikes of 1973. These strikes, involving more than 100,000 workers, led to the revival of the independent trade union movement and a renewed focus on the importance of educating workers not only on their rights but also on the broader political and economic structures shaping their exploitation.
The Federation of South African Trade Unions (Fosatu), formed in 1979, was instrumental in developing workers’ education programmes that emphasised democratic participation and self-organisation. Fosatu saw education as central to building strong, independent unions and fostering a culture of worker control. These programmes were not top-down; they were rooted in workers’ experiences and designed to build their capacity to lead struggles in the workplace and beyond. Through study groups, workshops and reading circles, workers developed an understanding of how their struggles connected to the larger battle against apartheid and capitalism. Workers’ education continued after the formation of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) in 1985.
These programmes were designed to be participatory and democratic, with workers involved in shaping the curriculum and setting the agenda for discussions. Education was created collectively based on the experiences of workers themselves.
In the 1980s the idea of People’s Education became important in the UDF. It was based on the principle that education should be oriented towards the needs and aspirations of the oppressed majority, rather than serving the interests of the ruling class. It sought to transform classrooms into spaces of political engagement, where students could critically examine the society they lived in and envision a future based on justice, equality and freedom. This approach was also participatory, encouraging students to question authority and develop their own understanding of the world, rather than passively absorbing information from textbooks or teachers.
The People’s Education movement extended into community centres, churches and homes, where students, parents and activists would gather to discuss issues ranging from apartheid laws to the nature of capitalist exploitation. In these spaces, education became a collective project, with knowledge being shared and developed in dialogue with one another. Like the night schools of the CPSA, People’s Education was not only about imparting facts; it was about cultivating a critical consciousness, one that would enable people to become active participants in the struggle for liberation.
Today, the education system still largely reflects the inequalities of the past. Public schools in poor, mostly black communities are under-resourced, while private and formerly white schools continue to offer vastly superior education to those who can afford it.
While the circumstances may have changed, the basic principles of empowering the oppressed through critical knowledge remain as relevant as ever. The current generation of young people faces an economic and social crisis marked by mass structural unemployment, precarious and exploitative work, high rates of violence and profound inequality and injustice. They need an education that speaks to these realities, one that equips them not only to navigate the world as it is, but to transform it.
As Paulo Freire, the great Brazilian educator, once wrote: “Education either functions as an instrument which is used to facilitate integration of the younger generation into the logic of the present system and bring about conformity, or it becomes the practice of freedom, the means by which men and women deal critically and creatively with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of their world.” This idea, that education should be the practice of freedom, is precisely what radical education in South Africa has historically sought to achieve — and it remains an essential principle for reimagining education today.
Like the CPSA’s night schools, it could provide spaces for those denied access to quality education to develop a critical understanding of their conditions. Like People’s Education, it could encourage students to think critically about their society and their role in changing it. Like the workers’ education programmes of Fosatu and Cosatu, it could foster a sense of collective struggle and solidarity, teaching that education is not only about individual advancement, but about the collective good.
Reimagining radical education for today requires a commitment to grassroots organising, to building spaces where people can come together to learn from one another, and to challenging the structures of power that shape the education system. The tradition of popular radical education in South Africa shows that it is possible. It shows that when people come together to educate themselves and each other, they can not only understand the world better but also begin to change it.
Dr Vashna Jagarnath is a curriculum developer, historian, trade union educator, pan-African specialist and former deputy dean of humanities at Rhodes University.