ABSTRACT
This chapter reflects on the experiences of the South African Committee on Higher Education (SACHED) possibly the most effective large non-governmental organisation (NGO) contesting the apartheid state’s hegemony in education, and whose work (based in nine South African cities amongst working class populations in the apartheid years) could have value in exploring its praxis in relation to present post-apartheid educational struggles. For instance, this implies that educational struggles should be understood in relation to wider social struggles against the apartheid state and necessitates examining how these were conceptualised, including the sometimes diverse and even contradictory ideas about the role of education. Important too is an examination of contested practice and how these related to political, socio-economic and cultural struggles, and the forms of organisation that facilitated a range of interventions through it.
Such examination requires an understanding of the underlying and contending educational philosophies that grew out of the exigency to respond to the apartheid state’s agenda for education in society, and the development of appropriate theories informing the possibilities for such responses. This is provided through an examination and analysis of the elements of what may or may not be useful for contemporary educational theory and practice.
