Sunday school: past and present

Abstract

The first part of the article shows the history of religious education in South Africa and how the Sunday school was successfully integrated with the existent extensive religious education system used by Afrikaners to educate their children. This system involved the total spectrum of life, including home, school, church and the state. The second part deals with the degeneration of the education system during the second half of the 20th century, resulting in the sharp decrease in the numbers of children in traditional Afrikaans-speaking churches. The conclusion is drawn that the current Sunday school system should be rethought and restructured in order to serve as a tool to educate Christians.