The ability to think clearly and rationally is important in whatever we choose to do. If you work in education, research, finance, management or even the legal profession, then critical thinking is obviously important. Being able to think well is an asset for any career. In this essay I am going to be discussing the place and role of critical thinking in the South African Education system. In this paragraph I will be discussing what the term education is as well as what it consists of. Education is the acquisition of knowledge and skills in order to improve the quality of life that one lives (D.P.J. Smith 1995). According to Smith (1995) there are two prominent theories on education and they are: the conservative “ normative theory and the progressivist (child centered) theory. Educational aims are manifold and what is important is that the educational aims should comply with proprietary standards according to socio-cultural criteria and religious beliefs (Kuhen, 2008). In education there are various educational methods, which are very diverse and range from strictly autocratic to a laissez “faire approach" (Dewey, 2005). The curriculum deals with content and entails what is to be taught and learned (Evans 2009). 1. Critical thinking is the process of conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing and or evaluating information gathered by observation, experience, reflection, reasoning or communication (Scriven & Paul, n.d.) Critical thing is the ability to think on a higher level and is a skill that is learned and developed through practice (Hillocks 2010). Critical thinking enables a person to recognize the strengths and weaknesses of their own thinking as well as to engage in reflective and independent thinking. (Donahue and Reed, 2008). Thinking critically does not mean to think negatively in order to find fault or flaws but is a neutral and unbiased process for evaluating opinions, claims or information (Byrnes 2010). 2. C