Genadendal training college
Genadendal training college
The South African History Online claims that the oldest teachers’ training college in South Africa opened on 26 January 1896, in Wellington, in the Western Cape. Yes, indeed this college opened on that date, but almost six decades earlier, on 12 September 1838, the Genadendal Training College opened its doors; therefore the Genadendal Training College is the very first of its kind in South Africa.
If one puts the Genadendal College within the context of similar institutions in the world, then it is quite significant, and definitely a phenomenal milestone in the History of Teacher Training.
The history of politics and discrimination in our country led to the Genadendal College closing its doors in 1927. The closing of the college was preceded by a visit by a deputation of the Afrikaner Bond in 1899. They argued that an institution for tertiary education was not necessary for people who were not ‘so-called White’. In a petition, it was stated that: “there were enough farms in the region where they could be employed”. At that time, some of the lecturers were highly qualified educators, competent and products of the Genadendal College; and the results of the college examinations, which were drawn up by the State Department were excellent and indisputable. So the motivation for closure was not pedagogical, but purely political and out of unfounded fear that potential leaders could be trained to lead the masses to revolt against the government of the day. After the objections and pressure from the ‘Bond’, the Department of “Openbaar Onderwijs” withdrew the annual subsidy and thus blighted tertiary education at Genadendal. Consequently, the College had to close its doors.
Over a period of 90 years, a total of 236 young men and women qualified as teachers. Today, the building is used as a Cultural History Museum. The Genadendal Museum became the first SA Museum collection to be declared a National Cultural Treasure in 1991.
