Theoria - DISA

particularly with the noticeable decline of classical studies, in
a position of strength and privilege which only the most diehard
humanists have any wish to challenge.
One must admit immediately that the same arguments do
not hold in South Africa, and that it would be foolish to attempt
to apply them in the same way. This admission does not,
however, settle the question out of hand as so many people
seem to think it should. To say that a knowledge of French
language and culture is unimportant or unnecessary in South
Africa because it has no practical value is to lose sight of real
values and to degrade the function of education. Surely we are
not yet prepared to admit publicly that we wish to limit our
children's education to instruction in those things which can be
turned to direct practical use in their immediate environment ?
There may be those who are willing to make this admission
without even a blush of shame, and, if so, I believe them to be
treading a dangerous path. Such arguments may lead to the
disappearance from the curriculum of other subjects which on
closer examination prove to be dispensable, and to their replacement
by officially inspired information courses designed to fit
students for their place in a particular kind of society. The
quest of the useful and the " socially desirable " in education
must surely lead to the suffocation of real scholarship and of the
qualities which make a nation eminent. Any real education
must surely admit a great many studies whose value is abstract
and incalculable. It must do more than provide for the immediate
practical needs of humdrum individuals, it must stimulate the
brains of future artists, scientists and philosophers. It can even
be argued that a good system of education should be designed
to suit that fortunate intellectual elite rather than the inarticulate
majority. It must at least provide an atmosphere in which the
greater minds can thrive. It must, as well as giving the general
public something for its money, provide the spiritual stimulus
necessary for developing the imagination and the critical faculties
of the better citizens. It must foster intellectual curiosity,
clarity of thought, tolerance and discriminating appreciation.
It must educate the youth of the country to the point where
they can fulfil themselves in their work and leisure, enjoy,
appreciate, and criticise with well-founded confidence the
expressions of life and art which they see around them. It must
teach them to' read newspapers with sharpened discernment
and a better understanding of national and international points
of view ; to sift out in contemporary art, literature and politics
(I select what may be regarded as the inescapable pursuits of
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