Reflections on basic education challenges in South Africa

When I was growing up I knew the value of education. I knew that education was important for my future position in the labour market. I remember some of the days when my parents did not have money to pay for my school fees. In those days if you did not pay the school fee you were not allowed to attend school until the money is paid. My parents were relatively poor and were struggling to maintain the monthly household expenditure. My father had attained a standard 6 and my mother had some secondary education. The levels of education they had acquired channelled them to work at the lower end of the then South African labour market; hence they were struggling to afford some basic expenses such as payment of school fees.  I remember that on such occasions I usually swore that I would report my parents to the police as they were denying my right to education.

At school I was very competitive and as a result I always came in the top 5 in my class. I remember then there were exit examinations at various levels throughout the basic education: at standard 5 (grade7), standard 8 (grade 10) and standard 10 (grade 12). As learners in those days we were doing our best to achieve and our parents were monitoring us by looking at our books frequently, though as we progressed to higher grades at secondary school they did not understand the work we were doing. Unlike today there was no continuous assessment, our fate was mainly dependent on the final examination.

Divided education equals divided society

Since the introduction of the Norms and Standards for School Funding in 1998, the post-Apartheid government has made remarkable progress in its pro-poor funding of education at the basic level. Education in poor socioeconomic areas, such as rural areas, has been made accessible to children. According to the Norms and Standards (1998) there are certain categories of parents that are exempt from paying school fees based on their income levels.

From 2007, after the introduction of the Amended Norms and Standards for School Funding, the government introduced a policy of “no fee” schools.  Initially the “no fee” school policy referred to the poorest 40 percent (i.e. quintile 1 and 2) of public primary and secondary schools in South Africa. In 2009 this “no fee” school definition expanded to include the poorest 60 percent (i.e. quintile 1, 2 and 3) of public schools. These pro-poor funding policies have to a great extent managed to broaden school access to the majority of poor children, especially at the basic level of education. However, at the further education and training band (i.e. Grade 10, 11 and 12) a significant number of children do not access education due to the opportunity cost of education. Most of the parents in rural areas are not aware of the existence of the school fee exemption policies (Nelson Mandela Foundation, 2005). 

Local economics of e-tolling

Without being too unionised, or bringing politics into economics, one needs to reflect on the national strike by labour unions that was led by Cosatu in protest against the tollgates.

Firstly, many would not understand what the fuss was that strike all about, as this only affected certain parts of Gauteng. The reality is that many of these things start in one area, before they become a national problem, and that is the stance of Cosatu.

Let us try and bring this matter close to home, for ordinary people like you and me.

For argument’s sake, let us say the tollgates were put as one enters King William’s Town. Obviously we would be having three tollgates. One would have been charging all cars in the N2 coming from East London. 

The ideal place would of course be near the bridge just after the golf course. Politicians would do their best not to have a tollgate before the turn to Bhisho / Zwelitsha, which is near Breidbach, claiming that the government would obviously be paying for them, thereby using tax-payers money.

The second one would be near the Engen garage at the N2 national road from Port Elizabeth as one enters King William’s Town. The third one would be charging all the N6 traffic from the Queenstown direction.

The likelihood and temptation would be to put a fourth one on the route from Qumrha.

The Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) has dropped charges and is currently charging R0.30 per kilometre. And, this is bound to increase drastically within a very short space of time. But, let us stick to the R0.30 charge for now.

Distance from East London to King William’s Town is about 60km, and from Mdantsane it’s around 30km. People using this route would obviously be paying R18 and R9 a day respectively, within a maximum capping of R500 a month (for now). 

On average, it is clear that in all these routes, drivers would be paying between R10 and R30 per day, and an average of R200 and R600 per month. This is assuming a single trip with no return and weekends are excluded.

YOUTH DAY ANNIVERSARY AND SCHOOLING CHALLENGES

In two weeks’ time from today our country will be celebrating the Soweto uprisings where a substantial number of students were shot at and killed by the Apartheid security forces for daring to protest against the use of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction. On 16 June 2012 it will be the 36^th year anniversary of June 16, and as a country we will be half of that period into our democracy. As a country we need to assess progress made in the education front, especially at the basic and further education levels since the advent of democracy 18 years ago. We need to ask ourselves whether we have made the 1976 generation proud or we have betrayed them.

Relief in South African unemployment

According to the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey as published by Statistics South Africa on 7 February 2012, South Africa has achieved a significant victory in the fight against unemployment. The Survey points out that the number of unemployed persons declined by 4, 5 % (198 000) from the third quarter to the fourth quarter of 2011. However, compared to the previous year (fourth quarter of 2010) unemployment has risen by 2, 6% (107 000) during the fourth quarter of 2011.

Looking at the employed persons from previous quarter (third quarter 2011) to the fourth quarter of the same year, there is an increase of 1, 3% (179 000) jobs. Compared to the previous year the number of employed persons also increased by 2, 8% (365 000) during the fourth quarter 2011.

Another look at the Eastern Cape NSC results

When the Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, announced the National Senior Certificate results at the beginning of this year all ears were waiting to hear about Eastern Cape’s performance. As expected the largely rural province which has been plagued by disturbances towards the end of last year was at the bottom of the list. Most education analysts, commentators and even teacher union officials expressed their dismay about the performance of the province. However, the question is whether the students of the Eastern Cape really achieved that badly as portrayed by the Minister’s announcement that day. Have the analysts and company been fair to this province?

A closer scrutiny of the numbers reveals that this province has been improving on its performance since 2008. In 2009 it was only Eastern Cape and KwaZulu Natal which recorded an improvement in the results while other provinces were in the red. The achievement rate of Northern Cape, Limpopo and Gauteng, for instance, declined by 11, 4%, 5, 4% and 4, 5% respectively from 2008 to 2009. On the other hand, pass rates for KwaZulu Natal and Eastern Cape rose by 3, 5% and 0, 4% respectively during the same period. In 2010 this province registered a significant improvement of 7, 3% from 51, 0% in the previous year. Other provinces also showed better achievement than the previous period that year, which demonstrated that teachers and parents were more able than before in preparing learners for the National Senior Certificate.

Job prospects for 2011 EC Matriculants?

Eastern Cape is in the bottom of the Class of 2011. What will happen to those who did not make it? Will they all return to school? This is unlikely, especially, for a significant number of those who failed more than three subjects.

The same question may be asked even to those that managed to obtain a pass. A limited number of them will manage to enter the tertiary institutions, and the rest will stay at home hoping to find some jobs.