Exploring the inequalities within the South African education system and its impacts on pupils amid the Covid-19 pandemic?
South Africa has one of the most unequal school systems in the world. This is according to a report published by Amnesty International Today. The country’s education system perpetuates inequality because of its run-down infrastructure, overcrowded classrooms and relatively poor educational outcomes. Those left effaced are the poorer communities whose basic human rights have been violated by governments lack of action in solving these problems.
The report accounts for more than three quarters of children aged 9 who cannot read, and in some provinces, this is as high as 91% in Limpopo and 85% in Eastern Cape. Of 100 learners that begin school, 50-60 will make it to Grade 12, 40-50 will pass Grade 12, and only 14 will go to university. Thousands of learners and teachers are forced to go to schools with missing essential facilities and have inadequate and unsustainable infrastructure. More specifically, sanitation facilities and infrastructure are heavily lacking within these schools and communities and has tragically resulted in the death of now four children drowning in pit latrine toilets, with the most recent deaths that took place in June this year.
Original photo by: Thabo Rathaba - Communal pit latrine toilet that is used by a nearby school in the area located in the village of Paballong - Free State.
Now, in the midst of Covid-19 how are such schools meant to implement safety regulations and social distancing practices when sanitation is so heavily lacking in these areas. Schools have since reopened early August to continue the academic year, and public schools are already at a disadvantage. While many private school learners have been continuing the academic year with the help of online school, public school learners in poorer communities have not had this privilege. Only 61.8% of the country’s households have access or has used the internet at home according to a survey by Statistics SA. The lowest recordings came from provinces such as Limpopo and the Eastern Cape with internet access as low as 2.2% and 3,5%. As a result, school life for many learners had to come to a complete stop. Now that schools have reopened, all learners of all grades have come back and social distancing practices will be harder to maintain.
Dr. Gloria Ledwaba has her PHD in inclusive education and speaks about the challenges many pupils and teachers in poorer communities have been experiencing. She also speaks about how the department of education is assisting schools in these communities under Covid-19 restrictions.
When asked about the inequalities that exist within the education system, she explained that unequal education is observed in the manner of which education is delivered in schools, and the way the school curriculums are structured and carried out when teaching learners. She adds that schools are usually categorised by a Quintal system that goes up in numbers from 1 to 5. Schools that fall under the Quintal 1 system are schools that are poorly resourced. When comparing such schools to others that fall under Quintal 4 or 5, that is when the inequalities become evident and the difference is very much obvious. And the differences, or inequalities so to speak are prevalent in infrastructures, services that are provided in schools, provision of school supplies and the overall quality of education.
According to government statistics for 2018, out of 23 471 public schools in the country, 19% had illegal pit latrines for sanitation, while another 37 schools didn’t have any sanitation facilities at all. 86% had no laboratory, 77% had no library, 72% had no internet and 239 schools had no electricity. The Amnesty report also indicated that there is an insufficient number of trained teachers who in many cases have to teach in overcrowded classrooms. This together with insufficient transport, lack of basic sanitation facilities and water sources all contribute to an unequal and poor-quality educational system.
Dr. Ledwaba also mentions that as much as there is a serious lack in equality in the systems of education, the department does have good policies that try to combat this difference, called White Paper 6. Education White Paper 6 is a policy that mandates all schools to receive the same kinds of services, so that learners from all over the spectrum receive the same quality in their education curriculum. Unfortunately, she notes that the reason inequalities are so bad right now, is because of the delay in implementing the White Paper 6 policy. This delay is partly to blame on government action, but also and largely the staff who work within schools, such as teachers, principals and governing school boards, when it comes to attitudes and work ethics.
Ledwaba stresses that schools cannot just rely on the government as people within the community like parents and teachers need to work together in applying the right attitudes and mentalities about education as a whole. In terms of funding, the government does subsidies a certain percentage towards schools to help improve infrastructure and to provide more services for school pupils. However, due to the wrong kinds of attitudes parents and teachers within the community have, such funding is never questioned and as a result the money sent is never used for its purpose. So, essentially there is a serious problem in how funding is used when it gets sent to schools, as well as the lack of accountability.
The tragic case of Michael Komape, a five-year old child who drowned in a pit toilet at Mahlodumela Primary School in Limpopo is an example of this kind of negligence.
Ledwaba explains that the school Komape was attending falls under the Quintal 1 section, and so would have received the yearly subsidies the government provides. However, due to the issues that Ledwaba mentioned, when the school district was asked about the money sent to deal with eradicating such infrastructures like the pit toilets within their schools, there was no accountability for the mismanaged money. This is one of the shortcomings on the part of government action, as systems should be put in place when it comes to following up on what happens to government funds.
During the Komape’s family trial, the Limpopo high court had many testimonies claiming that the school district had no evidence in shortage of funds to fix broken and dilapidated toilets in the province. This is according to budget analyst Daniel McLaren. Instead, the court heard many reports of rampant financial mismanagement, tender irregularities and billions of Rands wasted in the last few years on irregular, unauthorised and wasteful spending from the Limpopo Department of Basic Education. Reports also showed that the department had returned R453 million to treasury in unspent allocations, together with the R1,2 billion returned the previous year. In 2017 reports showed R565 million was unspent. Money that is sent to help Quintal 1 and 2 school systems is not being used effectively and as a result, have left students with poor and inadequate education.
When asked how Quintal 1 to 2 schools are coping amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Dr. Ledwaba explained that although private schools and some public schools such as Quintal 4 to 5, have been able to proceed with school through online learning… She says such schools were only able to do this because they have the resources to provide learners with computers and the means to continue an online education.
Teachers also need to have the skills and training to carry out an online education and unfortunately teachers under Quintal 1 and 2 schools do not have the same skills. As a result, some schools have been able to continue the academic year while others that belong under Quintal 1 and 2 systems had no choice but to stay at home until early August this year. The aftermath of the lockdown has now pressured these schools to catch up. Grade 11 and 12 learners have to come to school every day including Saturday’s and Sundays in order to make it to end of year exams. Ledwaba says that this added pressure to finish the academic year will be very hard on some learners and so they will need a lot of support from their teachers and parents in order to finish in record time.
The underlying problem is not just with government, but largely to do with members of the community. Ledwaba advices that the only way to bridge this gap in education must start with schools and teachers within those schools. Community leaders should exercise their voices and uplift their schools, as well as the community at large to create the support needed to keep Quintal 1 and 2 schools operating. Once this can be achieved, so too can White Paper 6 move forward.
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