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). 

The majority of the “no fee” schools are situated in poor rural areas and Black townships, and in most instances these schools are poorly resourced. However, some “no fee” schools do not comply with this policy as they continue to charge fees of R100 and less. Principals of such schools claim that the reason they charge fees is the failure of the provincial departments in providing funds to schools in time. It is in these schools that the quality of education is severely compromised, with children mainly doing English as a second language.  On the other hand, fee paying schools in quintiles 4 and 5 are located in urban areas where resources flourish. It is at these schools that the school fee exemption policy applies. Furthermore, it is at these former Model C schools that mostly Black middle class children, are taught “quality” education and learn English as a home language in a majority of instances.  

In January of every year when Grade 12 results are released, South Africans are presented with the average pass percentages. What is hidden in these average results is the fact that the majority of public schools in rural areas and Black townships achieve very low results. Most of the children in these areas fail to make it in Matric and a significant number of them drop out of the school system, and as a result they join the ranks of the unskilled labour force. In contrast, their counterparts from former Model C schools and the few “lucky” ones from rural and Black township schools continue to tertiary education and consequently become absorbed into the middle class.

Is it by commission or omission that more than eighteen years, after political liberation, we are still confronted with a “divided” education system where only a few benefit? Is the kind of schooling system that we are pursuing really assisting in transforming our economy or is it a tool of the capitalist class to perpetuate the current inequalities, poverty and unemployment in order to maintain its hegemony?