the amersfoort legacy


The Amersfoort Legacy
Education, Freedom and Development
Commemorating 350 years of formal schooling in South Africa - 17th April 1658 – 2008

Cape Town, 8 April 2008 - On 17th April 2008, it will be the 350th anniversary of the formal establishment of the first school in South Africa. This school was established on that day in 1658 by Jan van Riebeeck, Commander of the refreshment station at the Cape of Good Hope, for the male and female slave children brought to the Cape on the ship, the Amersfoort. The school had a troubled history and was soon forced to close down. One of the reasons for its closure was that the children would not tolerate the poor treatment meted out to them by the officers of the Dutch East India Company. It did, however, lay the basis for the schools that were to follow, of which a number soon arose, including one in the Slave Lodge. The teachers in these first schools were Sick-Comforters, employees of the Dutch East India Company. They taught a curriculum that was essentially shaped around the Catechism, and which remained in place for almost 150 years.

South African History Online (SAHO), in partnership with the UCT School of Education and Iziko Museums of Cape Town, will mark the 350th anniversary with an event on 17 April at the Iziko Slave Lodge Museum in Cape Town.

The event will comprise a formal ceremony in the morning at which the keynote speaker will be Deputy Minister of Education Mr. Enver Surty.

There will also be an exhibition spanning 350 years of education, and a colloquium in the afternoon.

The Colloquium will be chaired by Ms Nasima Badsha, (CEO) CHEC. The panellists are:

  • Prof. Crain Soudien, School of Education, UCT
  • Prof. Jonathan Jansen, University of Pretoria
  • Prof. Rob Siebörger, UCT
  • Ms Nomboniso Gasa, Chairperson of the Commission for Gender Equality

South African History Online will also launch a project on the History of Education on its website on 17 April 2008. This project will, amongst other things, involve schools and History teachers producing their own local histories, which will be published on SAHO’s new history site.

Later in the year, a book of essays on a new history of the educational experience of the last 350 years in South Africa will also be published. This work is being undertaken by a team of scholars led by Prof. Crain Soudien and includes Prof. Peter Kallaway, Prof. Michael Cross, Dr Linda Chisholm, Dr Sean Morrow and Mr Brown Maabe.

Later in the year, the theme of the anniversary will also be taken up by the History Teachers’ Association and the Department of Education.

An important opportunity that arises in highlighting this anniversary is that of telling the story of our country’s educational experience anew. There exists, currently, very little in terms of events, books and resources that tell the story of how education has evolved in South Africa in a way that recognizes our complex balance-sheet of losses and gains. For example, the anniversary will allow us to tell a story about how oppressed people suffered as a result of being denied education, which is relatively familiar, but, critically, also, to begin the difficult challenge of showing what was in existence before this critical date and how minimal resources were used in ways that helped both individuals and communities.

For further inquiries:

Seating is limited and booking is essential. To RSVP, contact Wandile Kasibe at Tel. 021 481 3804 or email wkasibe@iziko.org.za by Wednesday 9 April 2008.