ABSTRACT
Education is one of the major and much debated concerns in the establishment of ‘the new South Africa’. Black education has been one of the main arenas where the struggle for liberation was contested. The concept of people’s education was regarded as a symbol of democracy and human rights. It represents a reaction against the effort at social control represented by apartheid education and its infringement on human dignity and freedom. People’s values and their perceptions of themselves and others are closely related to their views of knowledge and what the nature of formal education should be. This could be seen in a pre-democratic South African society in which mainly white voices were heard in the education discourse. Other voices which could have contributed to a broader understanding and improvement of critical issues in education have for long not been heard.
