The basic needs approach to development: The question of education for black people in Natal 1

Schooling is an important facet of the basic needs approach to development. Higher education has been shown to influence a decrease in both the infant mortality rate and the fertility rate, and furthermore appears to influence an individual's access to more remunerative employment. The provision of schools for black people in Natal by the Department of Education and Training (DET) is still far from adequate for all children of school‐going age. Moreover, in many areas, particularly rural areas and for levels above Junior primary, distances are too great for the children readily to be able to attend school. Particular problems which require confronting are farm schools (the location of which is not determined by DET and which are not always open to all neighbouring children): the inadequacy of secondary schooling in many census districts and in most rural areas; and the spatial fragmentation of Natal KwaZulu.