The influence of Calvinism on South Africa's education system prior to 1994

Abstract

In South Africa, Calvinism has exercised a profound influence on theology and this influence extended to education. Indeed, Calvinism played a major role in shaping a local education system which was adopted as a result of a specific political ideology. In this article, we intend to show how Calvinism was used to justify the superiority of one group of people over another through the education system. This article will look at the ideals of Calvin in South Africa in the context of formal education during the apartheid era, and offer a critique of formal education before 1994. It will be argued that, in his theology, Calvin himself emphasised healthy values such as accountability, communication, obedience, orderliness, lack of oppression, responsibility and the rule of law. However, these values were either ignored in the local version of Calvinist education, or applied from a racist perspective.