Physical access to schooling in South Africa: mapping dropout, repetition and age‐grade progression in two districts

Abstract

Abstract The Education for All and Millennium Development Goals commit national governments, international agencies and civil society to ensure that all children are provided with basic education. In South Africa this would mean full attendance in Grades (1–9). The achievement of universal primary education and gender equity across low‐income countries are seen as critical to efforts to reduce poverty, increase equity and transform the developmental prospects of all people. South Africa has committed itself to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals premised on the right to basic education for all which is enshrined in its Constitution. However, unlike a number of other countries in sub‐Saharan Africa, South Africa has near universal access to formal public schooling up to the end of the compulsory phase: this phase comprises of the foundation phase (Grades 1–3); the intermediate phase (Grades 4–6); and the junior secondary phase (Grades 7–9) – a total of 9 years of schooling. However, substantial infrastructural backlogs deprive learners of equal opportunities to quality education. Expanded access has little import unless it includes regular attendance, enables progression through grades at appropriate ages, and provides meaningful learning, achievement and completion. Using quantitative empirical data from two districts in two different provinces in South Africa, this article reviews patterns of participation. It pays particular attention to dropout, age‐grade progression and repetition in understanding the dynamics of access. The article concludes that access must be more than just a place in a school for every child; it must be meaningful access. Notes 1. Significant in the South African context are those who are in classes but under‐achieving. In 2004, Grade 6 learners obtained averages of 35% for language, 27% for mathematics and 41% for natural science. In international tests such as TIMSS, South Africa continues to perform poorly in relation to its regional and international counterparts (OECD Citation2008). 2. Meaningful access draws on the conceptual framework of the Consortium for Research on Educational Access, Transitions and Equity (CREATE). CREATE uses the terms 'zones of vulnerability' and 'zones of exclusion' to describe the various spaces where children are included, excluded or at risk. CREATE is currently undertaking a four‐country study across Ghana, India, Bangladesh and South Africa to investigate meaningful access in each of these countries. The CREATE model identifies six zones of exclusion which map children who have never been to school, children who are at risk of dropping out from primary and secondary schooling, children who drop out from primary and junior secondary and those who fail to make the transition from primary to secondary school (Lewin Citation2007). 3. Provinces are divided into administrative units called districts, which interface directly with schools. 4. Between 1983 and 1994, the three Houses of the South African Parliament were responsible for the education of their own segregated racial groups: the House of Assembly (HOA) for whites, the House of Delegates (HOD) for Indians and the House of Representatives (HOR) for coloureds. Education for Africans who lacked the franchise fell under the Department of Education and Training (DET), administered by the Department of Bantu Affairs. This disparate education system was rationalised by the South African Schools Act of 1996. 5. SASA section 125. The school exemption policy was introduced to provide access to fee paying schools for learners who were unable to afford the fees. The criteria for fee exemption are means tested for learners. The impact of this policy has been limited. 6. Schools in South Africa are divided from quintile 1 to quintile 5 with quintile 1 being the poorest schools. A poverty index is used to redistribute non‐personnel expenditure with quintile 1 schools receiving the largest proportion of the expenditure. The aim is to redistribute public funds in order to move to greater equity. Schools in quintile 1 and 2 are progressively being included in the no‐fee category. It is too early however to assess the impact of the no‐fee policy. 7. Dropout is calculated in EMIS data as a residual after repetition and promotion are calculated. The ministerial committee on learner retention (DoE Citation2008) has noted that repetition is underestimated in EMIS calculation and this may affect the dropout figures. This is particularly relevant to Grade 1 in poorer provinces in South Africa. Because of the absence of pre‐school provision, learners often repeat Grade 1, while poverty and parent employment profiles may cause learners to leave or drop out during the year. The EMIS calculations also do not properly track learners who might have left during the year but who may have returned to school in the following year.