The contestation, ambiguities and dilemmas of curriculum development at the Solomon Mahlangu freedom college, 1978 - 1992

Abstract

This thesis is an appraisal of curriculum development at the Solomon Mahlangu Freedom College and the Dakawa Development Centre established by the ANC in exile, in Tanzania in 1978 and 1982 respectively. In 1960 the ANC went into exile when it was banned under the Unlawful Organisations Act in the wake of the Sharpeville crisis. The ANC's record in the educational arena from 1912 to 1960 was characterized by reactive responses to state policy as it did not have a structured educational programme that it could offer as an alternative to education for blacks. In the post-1960 period it was faced with a new set of priorities, that is, the huge and complex task of re-organising itself both within South Africa and in exile. In 1978 the ANC established its educational institution, the SOMAFCO High School, in Mazimbu, Tanzania, in the wake of the 1976 uprisings in Soweto and elsewhere in South Africa.