[South Africa] 1 + 1 = 2

from The Mail and Guardian

The South African Human Rights Commission (HRC) has found that South Africa has two basic education systems -- the dysfunctional and impoverished schools used by the majority of children, and those for the privileged minority comprising well-resourced islands of educational excellence.

The HRC’s report on the right to basic education, released to the public and tabled in Parliament this week, follows public hearings last October on the provision of education for pupils aged between seven and 15 years, or grade nine, whichever comes first. It considered submissions from the government, teacher unions, social movements, academics, NGOs and community members, among others.

The Constitution guarantees the right to basic education for all, and since 1994 the government has poured resources into schools to eliminate apartheid-era inequalities. Despite this, the education sector generated most complaints received by the HRC’s legal services department, said Andre Keet, director of the commission’s National Centre for Human Rights Education and Training.

Thirty years after June 16 1976, some of the issues that ignited that struggle “still impact on our society”, said HRC chairperson Jody Kollapen. “There are big gaps between the promises of the Constitution and the lived reality of many South Africans -- and we are not doing well in bridging those gaps.”

In the one education system, the report says, are rural and township schools “characterised starkly by poverty ... dysfunctionality, vulnerability, alienation and a lack of social cohesion”. The other comprises formerly white, mainly urban schools that have maintained their quality because of legislation governing school fees. Between the two systems are “glaring inequalities” in every area of school provision, meaning that many children are still being denied their constitutional education rights.

“Resources are not enough,” the report says. “We are not seeing the outcomes in terms of quality education that were anticipated.” The context is poverty, which has a bearing on the costs of schooling -- fees, uniforms, transport -- and in less well-documented trends such as the drop-out rate.

The report urges the government “to move rapidly and at greater speed to increase no-fee schools”, and says primary education should be made free as soon as possible. It also recommends that the South African Schools Act be amended to make it obligatory for the state to investigate why a learner is failing to attend school. “Teachers and principals should be made accountable at district level to explain the non-attendance of children in their classrooms.”

The report says that the impact of HIV/Aids on education is not yet adequately understood. But it notes that “there is still clearly much stigma that pervades communities. Until HIV/Aids is spoken about openly ... it cannot be said that we are addressing the issue sufficiently. There may well be policies, but these will make little difference in the lives of learners who head households and whose teacher is oblivious of the fact or chooses to ignore it.”

It also finds that there is “a disturbing silence” on language issues in poor and rural schools. It cites the Nelson Mandela Foundation’s study of rural schools last year, which reported that 42% of the pupils surveyed said they had difficulty understanding their teachers.

Debates on the language of learning are dominated by former Model C schools, the report says, which have the resources to publicise or litigate the issue. But this ignores what is happening in the majority of schools, where mother-tongue learning is still a rarity. It says the Department of Education should re-evaluate the policy of granting school governing bodies the power to choose language policy, and amend the Schools Act if necessary.

The report adds that governing bodies work better in wealthier communities than poorer ones, and that “the model of schools raising their own funds for their own development simply does not work in impoverished communities”.

In the latter, parents often experienced schools as autocratic and alienating, resulting in loss of community participation. Alternative models, such as rural community forums, should be explored, and “active participation by civil society including social movements is necessary in order to ensure that social context is truly given effect in education”.

The report also finds:

# that teachers’ morale is generally low, and that many are underqualified and underperforming;

# high levels of school violence and sexual abuse of girl pupils; and

# many schools still lack electricity, running water, toilets and libraries.

Education Director-General Duncan Hindle welcomed the report. “Some of it is not pleasant for us to read,” he said, “but is has a range of authentic voices we don’t often hear.” The department would especially consider the recommendations and respond in due course.