59-- EUROPEAN CHILDREN IN SOUTH AFRICA NOT 

 RECEIVING ANY SCHOOL EDUCATION. 



By K. a. Hobart Houghton, B.A. 



It is difficult, even with the help of the statistics of the Census 

 Report of 1904, and the Reports of the several Education Depart- 

 ments for the current year, to arrive at any really accurate estimate 

 of the numbers of European children of school-going age who are 

 receiving no kind of instruction whatever. 



From the Census Report we learn that in Cape Colony there 

 were 43,253 European children between the ages of 5 and 14 not 

 receiving instruction. Of these 9,926 were described as at work of 

 some kind or other, the remaining 33,327 being without any occupa- 

 tion. There has been an increase of European pupils in Government- 

 aided schools since April, 1904 (the date of the taking of the Census) 

 of about 5,000, which may be regarded as exceeding the increase by 

 population by about 3,000. This would mean that approximately 

 30,000 white children in Cape Colony, or 23.3 percent, of the total 

 numbers of school-going age, are neither receiving instruction nor 

 engaged in any occupation. 



In Natal there were 18,038 white children between the ages of 

 5 and 14. The toal enrolment in Government and Government- 

 aided schools for the year ending June, 1905, was 11,989. Allowing 

 that 2,000 attend private schools, we see that about 4,000 are without 

 school instruction. At the same time, it must be remembered that 

 a large percentage of these may be taught at home. 



The following extract from the Report of the Transvaal Educa- 

 tion Department for the six months, January to June, 1905, indicates 

 the conditions in the Transvaal. " Figures have now been supplied 

 by the Census Commission which indicate what proportion of the 

 whitti population of school-going age within the Transvaal are bene- 

 fitting by the schools which the Government has established. Owing 

 to the transitory character of many of the schools that are opened 

 under private management, and the difficulty of ensuring their 

 registration and the supply of regular returns, only approximate 

 information can be obtained as to the average number of children 

 enrolled in these schools within a given period. Moreover, a certain 

 number of children not enrolled in any registered school receive some 

 form of education privately at home. A few also are sent to school 

 outside the Transvaal. Hence it is not possible to supply in accurate 

 figures a statistic which is still of the utmost importance, viz., the 

 number of children in the Colony who are receiving no education at 

 all. The following figures, however, serve to give at least an idea of 

 the present position : — 



White population between 5 and 15... ... ... 62,677 



Enrolment in Government Schools (June, 1905) ... 28,540 



Enrolment in Schools not under Government ... ... 9,000 



Number of children receiving no School Education 25,137 



