Creating Equity: Simplistic Assumptions and Stark
Realities
The Education Authorities - National and Provincial - with
the support of some Teacher Unions present achieving equity as
the policy that will correct present imbalances in education provision.
They claim that equal, fair and just provision of monetary, human
and physical resources to all schools in South Africa's nine provinces
will reduce and eventually eliminate the gap in education achievement
standards between advantaged and disadvantaged learners. The fallacies
inherent in this simplistic assumption and the current developments
that already reveal a widening of the gap in standards and achievements
among the country's schools were some of the concerns addressed
at the 1998 Conference of the Teachers' League of South Africa.
Within the Conference Theme, Achieving Equity: Continuing
Challenges, two of the four Papers presented debate critically
the claims made for the equity policy. The authors of the Paper
entitled The Route to Equity in the South African Context argue:
"In the present political-social-economic set-up
the mere granting of equal subsidies to all pupils will not, as
the government seems to assume, guarantee real equity in education."
The authors of the paper entitled The Private Schools
Challenge - Classist Education look at the different kinds of
Public Schools, the challenges presented by the Private (Independent)
Schools and the range of fees that all parents now have to pay
for the education of their children. They conclude :
"Schools in South Africa are developing in a
direction away from the pursuit of equity and equality, contrary
to official pronouncements and policies. Instead the chief aim
is an over-emphasis on the production of a disciplined and skilled
labour force to satisfy the needs of Capitalist employers. But,
then, inequalities in education are part of Capitalist society
and are likely to persist as long as Capitalism survives."
The Route to Equity Paper recognises the enormousness
of the task of achieving equity or equality in education, or equal
education.
"The segregationist and apartheid policies of
successive South African governments balkanised all spheres of
life along "racial" and class lines. The State established
the education systems in which discrimination, inequity, inequality,
differentiation and racialism became entrenched."
The Paper emphasises that the education system was
only one component in a complex system designed to create inequity.
"…political, economic and cultural rights,
housing, transport and social amenities were all balkanised along
class and racial lines, with the Herrenvolk receiving the very
best a rich country could offer and the sub-group of the oppressed
being thrown various amounts of the crumbs from the table of the
master race."
In the context of the social and economic patterns
of life that almost three-and-a-half centuries of White rule established
in South Africa it is simplistic, then, the Paper argues, to suggest
that a prescribed "equal" pupil-teacher ratio for all
schools can in itself lead to the attainment of equity. Under
present socio-economic conditions 40 pupils to one teacher in
a township or a rural classroom would not receive an education
that could be equated with that of a class of 40 pupils in a wealthy
suburban area. The conditions of the neighbourhood in which the
latter group lives, the superior circumstances of their parents
and family and the opportunities for social development provided
by the environment can exert a substantial influence on children.
And, even if all the other physical and teaching
resources were equalised for all schools, pupils being taught
by well-qualified teachers with a well of experience are going
to benefit immeasurably more than those served by unqualified
and under-qualified teachers, denied the opportunities of the
former group.
The Paper therefore posits the question :
"Can location, township, shack settlement schools
provide an education equal with that provided by those in privileged
group areas? Can equity be achieved inside those conditions?"
Arguments in support of "creating equity"
first appeared in the National Party's education policy statements
in the middle nineteen-eighties. They now feature prominently
in African National Congress (ANC) education pronouncements. The
focus in "creating equity" seems to be on providing
an equality in the provision of all educational resources - monetary,
human and physical - for all the country's school-going children.
This concept of equity is seen to underlie the rationalisation
and teacher-retrenchment programme that began under the Tricameral
Parliament and continues under the present rulers. The Education
Authorities' rationale is that there is inequality in the provision
of physical resources among the schools of the nine provinces.
More money is needed to rectify this position. So sack teachers.
Then use the money saved from their wages towards eliminating
this inequality. Further, some schools have too many teachers,
others too few. So shift "excess" teachers to bring
about an equality of staffing. In the policy of the Education
Authorities "achieving equity" has been reduced almost
entirely to a matter of money.
The policy is, however, doomed to failure because
the Central Government claims that there is not enough money to
increase education spending.
In order to find more money the principle of fee-paying
has been carried over from the Model C school system into the
general education system. Education has become a commodity and
the principle of "user charges" has been introduced.
The Paper on Equity exposes the realities of the present situation
in schools:
"The former Model C schools, despite increasing
levels of fees demanded of parents, attracted large numbers of
pupils and students whose parents sought escape for their children
from the over-populated, under-resourced township schools staffed
in the main by underqualified, generally demotivated, teachers.
Thus, despite the best intentions of the Ministry of Education,
and agreement with the teacher unions on national norms of staffing,
equity is still far out of reach in a socio-political climate
in which the 'user-principle' holds sway."
The Paper entitled Private Schools Challenge-Classist
Education details the types of Public schools - township schools,
traditional suburban state schools, inner-city independent schools,
"Private" or community schools and Model C-type schools
- and exposes the growing challenge presented by the Private (Independent)
schools. The fees at the different types of Public schools now
range from R50 at most township schools to R2900 at some former
Model C schools. At Private schools the fees range from R13000
per year at St. Stithians in Gauteng to R44500 a year - all inclusive
- at Hilton College in KwaZulu-Natal. The figures on annual fees
provided in this paper illustrate the stark realities of the current
and future education situation in South Africa. They strengthen
the argument that equity will not be achieved for as long as the
"user-principle" exists.
Strategies to "achieve equity" and to eliminate
imbalances in education provision apply only to the Public (State)
school system. The Private schools are not affected by retrenchments
and pupil-teacher ratios. In fact they attract the best-qualified
and most innovative teachers, many of them retrenched from the
Public school system. And the Private schools offer courses that
are attractive to youth whose primary desire is to obtain an education
that will enable them to obtain well-paid jobs.
The growth of the Private schools and Colleges has
been rapid and directors of the companies or corporations controlling
them are currently planning to open Universities and Technikons.
The authors of the Private Schools Challenge Paper give the following
information :
"In 1995 there were already some 223000 students
registered at private commercial colleges. Some of these colleges
offer higher education sometimes for what is termed "in home"
study but most give instruction in commercial subjects aimed at
giving students skills that will benefit them in the employment
market."
The Paper foresees the private sector's developing
into one of the most significant education providers when public
school learners complete the final year (Grade 9 - Std 7) of "compulsory"
schooling with their General Certificates of Education (GCE).
The GCE will be a school-leaving certificate for many children
who might, among other options, wish to follow courses provided
by commercial colleges. These commercial colleges will in all
likelihood operate in partnership with the private sector.
The extent to which education has become a commodity
to be paid for by those who want it, and from which companies
can profit, is seen in the area of corporatised education and
training. The Paper researched the growth of corporatised education
and gives revealing information on one of these companies - Education
Investment Corporation (EDUCOR). Educor was listed on the Johannesburg
Stock Exchange (JSE) on 19 June 1996. By 8 March 1998 the Market
Capitalisation of Educor exceeded R2.5 billion. It's education
arm has 160 branches and franchises, employing 4000 academics,
lecturers and trainers. It serves 300000 students. Damelin, Allenby,
Midrand Campus, Academy of Learning are some of the better known
names in the Educor stable. Educor declares annual dividends.
It's 1996-97 earnings per share climbed by 78 percent to 14.6c
and turnover more than trebled to R392 million in the year to
December 1997 against that of 1996. Educor is only one of the
education companies quoted on the JSE. These companies look upon
intellectual capital as the world's most valuable asset and one
to be exploited for gain.
The Government welcomes the growth of education provision
by the private sector because it lightens on of the State's major
financial burdens. But it is precisely the poverty of education
provision and low standards in public schools that drive learners
to deposit in the bank accounts of the Private Companies money
they could have spent on other essentials. And it is Government
legislation of the fee-paying principle in all Institutions of
Learning that is further and rapidly stratifying the South African
education system along class lines. Although "race"
stratification still has a significant presence in all schools,
the fee-paying principle and privatisation of education is causing
a shift from "race" stratification to class stratification.
The matriculants who move from the high-fee-paying
former Model C schools into technikons, colleges and universities
and the graduates of the Private Schools are the new advantaged
and privileged learners who will secure the best-paid jobs. And
it is their parents' economic/class status that categorises them
no longer by their "race". The children of poor parents
who cannot afford high fees will remain disadvantaged, will struggle
to complete matriculation and will most probably never find jobs.
The Private Schools Challenge-Classist Education
Paper states the conclusions drawn from the author's research
:
"This Paper, besides discussing the various
kinds of schools and schooling existing in South Africa, attempts
to show the relevance of the class stratification of schools to
the nature of South African society and the continuance or perpetuation
of that society. The new bourgeoisie catered for in the elitist
schools is not rising spontaneously in SA, ready to share the
spoils of the capitalist economy: its creation is part of a purposeful
plan known as Black Empowerment. At the other end of the scale
are those who will, if they are still at school, complete their
schooling in Grade Nine. Those who drop out will do so because
they recognise the school system for what it is."
The two Conference Papers reflect extensive research
into Government statements on education. The intelligent analyses
by the authors expose the simplistic assumptions regarding the
achieving or creating of equity. The Papers also reveal the reality
of the differences and disadvantages that still exist within the
Public education sector and the rapidly widening gap in standards
between the Public and the Private education sectors. The Paper
The Route to Equity in the South African Context concludes with
the observation:
"In the long term, then, the route to equity
can be successfully traversed only when all the pernicious features
of SA's apartheid legacy have been totally destroyed. Group Areas,
with all their divisive, inferior structures will have to be destroyed.
Poverty will have to be eliminated, so that every family can provide
children with the basic needs for a good education in a stimulating
home environment, good food, good health…"
And the State will have to accept that one of its
important responsibilities is the provision of quality education
for all the children of SA. The citizens of SA will need to show
great insight and determination to ensure the establishment of
the type of government which will provide the socio-economic and
education policy framework for the South African people to complete
the journey to Equity."
Parents, teachers and students should place their
criticisms, protests and demands within the context of the realities
of the South African education system and not allow themselves
to be drawn into what are secondary issues.
[THE EDUCATIONAL JOURNAL VOL.68 #2, OFFICIAL ORGAN
OF THE TEACHERS' LEAGUE OF SOUTH AFRICA, APRIL - MAY 1998]
EDITOR: Mrs. HN Kies, 15 Upper Bloem Street, Cape Town, 8001
Go to MTA's HomePage - Do not pass BEGIN, Do not collect R200.
