Negotiating Norwegian Mission Education in Zululand and Natal during World War II

Missionaries from the Lutheran Norwegian Mission Society (NMS) came to South Africa from the 1840s. By 1940, more than 6000 pupils were attending NMS-owned schools in Zululand and Natal. World War II brought about different forms of negotiations between the missionaries and other actors. The War resulted in the missionaries losing contact with their central board in Norway and the provincial authorities of the Union were among those bodies who came to rescue them financially. Local congregations took over more of the mission responsibilities and the nature and forms of cooperation with other Lutheran missions changed. Added to these changes was the growing aspiration among Zulu pastors for more independence that also manifested itself in the management of schools. This paper presents an analysis of the ways in which the Norwegian missionaries negotiated their educational work in Zululand and Natal during the World War II period.

Културне лиге – претече јавних библиотека у Србији

Оснивање културних друштава и институција широм Србије након Балканских ратова, било је један од приоритета Краљевине Србије. Осим Културне лиге, деловале су и српске земљорадничке задруге, радничка и партијска удружења, обједињени у важној мисији – образовању, просвећивању и културном уздизању свог народа. Ауторке рада настоје да прате историјски развој Културне лиге, чијим развојем и деловањем су се створили услови за настанак јавних библиотека у Србији.----------------------------------------------Cultural Leagues – forerunners of public libraries in SerbiaThe establishment of cultural societies and institutions throughout Serbia after the Balkan wars were one of the priorities of the Kingdom of Serbia. In addition to the Cultural League, there were also Serbian agricultural cooperatives, workers' and party associations, united in an important mission – education and enlightenment of their people. The authors of the paper try to follow the historical development of the Cultural League, whose development and activities have created the conditions for the emergence of public libraries in Serbia.

Dutch Reformed Church mission education and its secular reconstruction/transformation by the Bakgatla ba Kgafela African community of Rustenburg, South Africa, c.1903 – 1930s

The paper analyses the nature of Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) mission education among the Bakgatla ba Kgafela of the Rustenburg District, South Africa. The emphasis of education was religious. A senior DRC missionary expressed the aim of education succinctly: “The purpose of education is to develop understanding, empathy and to win the children for Jesus Christ” (Maree, 1966: 65-66). The Bakgatla resented this racist policy, calling for the broadening of the curriculum, but unsuccessfully. Consequently, they built their own school. Teachers were recruited from some of the then prestigious educational institutions in South Africa, e.g. Tiger Kloof. The community funded teachers’ salaries and other expenses. The new school, named ‘Ramolope,’ after a local family patriarch who spearheaded its building, opened in the early 1920s. Radically different from the DRC school, it emphasised English, Mathematics and Science. It became enormously popular in the region. Some of the DRC mission pupils were leaving, to join the new school! Neighbouring communities began to copy the Bakgatla’s successful transformational model. This competition so upset the DRC missionaries that they excommunicated all the adult (DRC) Christian members of the Ramolope family. Eventually, the government took over the funding of the school.