\.\Tivi; i:nr( ATitiN in thi". tk.\\ski-.i. 4S5 



within rcoi'iit years there is some apprehension lest a chan<,'e 

 should he more of a handicap than a hell). 



IVrha])s a solution niit^ht he found hy plaeint;- Native Indu- 

 ration under a Union De])artment of Inducation, and possibly 

 inaking some division in tlie De])artment as between the luiro- 

 pean and native sections. In this way Native Education and 

 native affairs would be under the same ultimate control, for b}- 

 the Union Act now operative " The control and administration 

 of native affairs " is vested in the Governor-General in Council. 

 The education of natives, however, being' treated as education, as 

 •before Union, was, under Section 85 (iii), left mider the con- 

 trol of the Province. Agriculture, which was taken to include 

 agricultural education, was assigned to the Union (iovernment. 



In view^ of the satisfactory maimer in which Native Educa- 

 tion is administered by the Provincial Council a change to a 

 Union Department of lulucation might not be altogether welcome 

 in the Transkei. It almost seems that the status quo might 

 well be maintained for many years to come, and in any case is 

 there any need for a change of the kind? Would a Central 

 De])artment be able to control the whole of white education 

 in the different Provinces of the Union — not to mention the 

 education of the many different native peoples at various stages 

 of development within our borders? Some of us who live 

 amongst the natives are only beginning to understand them and 

 realise their ref[uirements. and it is hard to see how a Union 

 Department of Education could understand, and provide for, 

 the widely diver^tent needs of peoples like the Zulus, Fingoes, 

 Pondos, Tembus. Baralongs. Batlapins. Sw^azis— not to mention 

 the Damaras, Hereros, and Ovambos of newdy concjuered terri- 

 tory, which we hope to see shortly added to the Union. The 

 thing is impossible except by the concession of large local powers. 

 In the multitudes of counsels would Native Education not come 

 to a standstill ? There seems, on the whole, no reasonable possi- 

 bihty of getting better work done by over-centralising the admin- 

 istration on the one hand, or making the authority too localised 

 on the other hand. Rather let us maintain intact some form 

 of administration neither too limited nor too accessible, which 

 will more readily understand and deal with the needs of the 

 peoples within its sphere. A local authority of the kind already 

 mentioned might be oi>en to influence, more so than in the case 

 of an authority that is larger, and more distant ; and there, for 

 the present, we must let the suggestion rest! 



2. AS TO l'OSSIi:jr.ITIK.S IN ATTENDANCE. 



We have already pointed out what has already been actually 

 ;icconiplished. In order to gain a correct perspective of our 

 achievements, and a view of the task which still lies before us, 

 let us now follow out our enquiry along two lines. The first 

 point is to discover what percentage of the children are not attend- 

 ing school. The second point is to determine, within reasonable 

 limits, the probable expansion in the population. If we give a 



