Back to the future for schooling — history of unequal education continues to shape today’s challenges

In an attempt to forecast this year, a friend and I asked a few colleagues in education to identify the three headline concerns for the sector in 2025. A few of them identified the need for strong, visionary leadership to turn our system around, something they said was lacking. “The vision must be clear and there should only be a few high-level areas to work on,” one said.

Any business management book will tell you that skilful teams are absolutely central to creating, leading and maintaining the success of any turnaround effort. Teams are the leader’s hands in accomplishing an articulated vision.

Almost everyone we spoke to raised concern about our poor performance in the recent Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), and spoke of the need to address the challenges in numeracy and literacy.

A ministerial expert said: “These results are a mirror for us as a country to take a long, hard look at ourselves and come face-to-face with the cold, hard truth that our educational outcomes are deeply uneven.”

In response to the TIMSS results, Minister of Basic Education Siviwe Gwarube committed her department to more investment in teacher development, more equitable resource allocation, better use of time, evidence-based teaching methods and engaging the families of pupils.

Read more: Why our children can’t do maths — it is a matter of teachers who cannot or will not teach

How do problems related to inequality play out in school today? Picture a hot, dry August day in Limpopo. At the start of the third term, I’m monitoring project implementation and mentoring teachers. The principal, a gentle and kind woman, has analysed the school’s results and discussed the progress of each grade. The Grade 4s are struggling, particularly with their home language. I visit the teacher in the overcrowded classroom to understand the problem better.

The children’s fear is palpable. They are silent, not a single smile on their faces. The male teacher is reading about crocodiles and the children appear to listen – or pretend to. Most either seem bored or are not following. The teacher shouts the words and asks: “Where is the crocodile? In which river?” Only one hand goes up. The teacher answers the question before the child can.

Just then, his phone rings, and he walks out of the classroom to answer the call. I realise that the lesson is over and that he isn’t coming back. I talk to the children about their own experiences of rivers. Interest is sparked and a lively discussion ensues, with everyone eager to contribute.

Later, the principal explains that the teacher runs a business and must keep his phone on. It all makes sense now. The children are afraid of the teacher, who is doing little teaching. There is little written work in their books, which have not been marked. The children are unmotivated, disinterested and fearful.

Professor Pam Christie recently identified what she called the “wicked problems” in our education system: language, the resourcing of schools and accountability and responsibility. Christie describes these problems as “complex and intractable”, resisting clear definition and defying straightforward solutions in our context of conflicting interests. 

She says the “uncomfortable truth about South African schooling is the great disparity in resources of all sorts between schools”. Despite post-apartheid funding, policies have fallen short of addressing historical disparities.

Budget constraints mean that even the government’s norms and standards for school infrastructure cannot be met. Many schools still lack access to necessities such as clean water, proper sanitation, libraries and laboratories. Unsurprisingly, these underresourced schools are predominantly located in apartheid-era townships and Bantustans. Christie observes that inequality has become so entrenched that it is often regarded as “just the way things are”. 

A speech therapist we spoke to said there was a need to develop vocabulary and language, and that children needed relevant reading materials and opportunities to read every day. A prominent professor put it another way: “We need strong foundational literacy and mathematics, and there is an urgent need to develop a better work ethic and use the full school day.”

Making early childhood development a top priority was one of the goals of the 2011 National Development Plan to improve the quality of education and the long-term prospects of future generations. This is one area where the government is making progress and beginning to channel more resources towards ensuring that children are well cared for from an early age and receive appropriate emotional, cognitive and physical development stimulation.

The “wicked problems” overshadow the state of education, and the digital divide almost seems irrelevant. Although the government has made some headway in rolling out technology, access to reliable internet and devices remains inconsistent. In poorer areas, teachers and pupils have very few opportunities to integrate digital tools into the learning process, leaving many behind.

Everyone we called agreed that the legacy of inequality remains one of the most pressing issues. The lack of basic infrastructure – functional toilets, reliable electricity and safe classrooms – is a challenge. In some provinces, pupils attend lessons under trees because their school buildings are structurally unsafe.

Better-equipped urban schools are often overcrowded because of migration from rural areas. Violence from some communities permeates schools and incidents of gangsterism and assault are on the rise. This undermines learning and teaching.

We do need curriculum reform, but the truth is that high levels of poverty mean many pupils come to school hungry and find it hard to concentrate on lessons.

Read more: From frustration to solidarity: a mother’s journey with her son’s Afrikaans school placement

Going back in time is crucial in predicting the future. We struggle to overcome the legacy of apartheid’s unequal education system, and history continues to shape present-day challenges. Even with a better understanding of past policies and identifying patterns of inequality, we cannot avoid repeating mistakes. For example, a better understanding of the impact of underinvestment in rural schools should drive targeted infrastructure development today. In recognising the exclusion of African languages in education, the Department of Basic Education has understood the importance of integrating mother tongue instruction to improve learning outcomes.

Reflecting on the past equips us with the insights to build an inclusive and equitable education system. But somehow, we still lack the will to act and implement plans. DM

Dr Mark Potterton is the director of the Three2Six Refugee Children’s Education Project and Julie Dawjee is a senior school change specialist at the Catholic Institute of Education.

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.