The Rock : the history of Orlando High School, 1939-1984.

Abstract

This research report traces and records the historical development of Orlando High School, Soweto, South Africa,from its origins in 1939 to the present. This account serves to illuminate the history of state-provided secondary education for Africans on the Reef in particular, and in the country in general. Attention is focused on three distinct periods or phases through which Orlando High School has passed. They are the pre-Bantu Education period (1939-1954), the Bantu Education period, up to the riots (1955-1976) and the post-1976 period to 1984. Each of these periods exerted different political and socio-economic pressures on the school that shaped its ethos, educative function and its growth. The History of Orlando High School mirrors the phenomenal growth and significant developments in the educational provision for Africans over the last 45 years. There are, however, serious problems that account for the present crisis in this system of education. They need to be addressed boldly and urgently.