Elusive Equity : Education Reform in Post-Apartheid South Africa / Edward B

�� ress.ac.za ress.ac.za p � � � �� Free download from www.hsrc ress.ac.za ress.ac.za p Free download from www.hsrc Elusive Equity Title.pdf 4/6/2005 4:10:21 PM ress.ac.za ress.ac.za p C M Y Education reform in CM post-apartheid South Africa MY CY CMY K Free download from www.hsrc Edward B Fiske & Helen F Ladd ABOUT BROOKINGS The Brookings Institution is a private nonprofit organization devoted to research, education, and publication on important issues of domestic and foreign policy. Its principal pur- pose is to bring knowledge to bear on current and emerging policy problems. The Institu- tion maintains a position of neutrality on issues of public policy. Interpretations or conclusions in Brookings publications should be understood to be solely those of the authors. Copyright © 2004 Edward B. Fiske and Helen F. Ladd ress.ac.za ress.ac.za p All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the Brookings Institution Press, 1775 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036 (fax: 202/797-6195 or e- mail: [email protected]). Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data Fiske, Edward B. Elusive equity : education reform in post-apartheid South Africa / Edward B. Fiske and Helen F. Ladd. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8157-2840-9 (cloth : alk. paper) Free download from www.hsrc 1. Educational equalization—South Africa. 2. Education and state—South Africa. 3. Educational change—South Africa. 4. Discrimination in education—South Africa— Prevention. I. Ladd, Helen F. II. Title. LC213.3.S6F57 2004 379.2’6’0968—dc22 2004011355 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 The paper used in this publication meets minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials: ANSI Z39.48-1992. Typeset in Sabon Composition by Betsy Kulamer Washington, D.C. Printed by R. R. Donnelley Harrisonburg, Virginia To Connor, Elijah, Devin, Myah, Jude, Margaret, and Lilly with love ress.ac.za ress.ac.za p Free download from www.hsrc ress.ac.za ress.ac.za p Free download from www.hsrc Contents ress.ac.za ress.ac.za p Preface ix 1 Introduction 1 2 The Racial Context of South Africa 17 3 Education and Apartheid 40 Free download from www.hsrc 4 Educational Aspirations and Political Realities 61 5 Governance and Access to Schools 81 6 Financing Schools: Initial Steps toward Equity 101 7 Balancing Public and Private Resources 130 8 Outcomes-Based Education and Equity 154 9 Educational Outcomes 173 10 Equity in Higher Education 201 11 Conclusion 232 Appendix Tables 249 References 251 Index 261 vii ress.ac.za ress.ac.za p Free download from www.hsrc Preface ress.ac.za ress.ac.za p This book tells the story of South Africa’s efforts to fashion a racially equitable state education system out of the ashes of apartheid—a story that is both significant and compelling. South Africa captured the imagi- nation of the world when it succeeded, in 1994, in transferring political power from the white minority to the black majority without massive Free download from www.hsrc bloodshed. In part because of the heroic figure of Nelson Mandela, who emerged from twenty-seven years as a political prisoner to become the first president of the new democracy, South Africa became a global sym- bol of the struggle for human rights and racial equity. Remarkable as it was, the successful transfer of political power from white to black hands was only a first step toward the construction of a strong, multiracial, and sustainable social order. South Africa’s fledgling democracy also required new institutional structures built on the values embodied in the country’s progressive new constitution, which guaran- tees equal rights for all South Africans. Reform of the state education system exemplifies this broader transformation process under way in South Africa in the post-1994 period. The new government inherited a system designed to further the goals of apartheid, one that lavished human and financial resources on schools serving white students while systematically starving those with African, coloured, and Indian learners. Its task was to transform this system into one that reflected the values of the new democracy and to ix x ■ PREFACE do so in a political and social context shaped by the historical legacy of apartheid, the nature of the power sharing that emerged from the negotiated settlement, and severe limitations on financial and human resources. The story of education reform in post-apartheid South Africa is also important because it was driven by a quest for equity and fairness. The concept of educational equity is attracting growing attention in political debates around the globe. Equity is the underlying basis for the Educa- tion for All movement, coordinated by the United Nations Educational, ress.ac.za ress.ac.za p Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), that was initiated with a major world conference in Jomtien, Thailand, in 1990 and that held a ten-year follow-up conference in Dakar, Senegal, in 2000. Finally, South Africa’s experience is compelling because of the magni- tude and starkness of the initial disparities and of the changes required. Few, if any, new democratic governments have had to work with an education system as egregiously—and intentionally—inequitable as the one that the apartheid regime bequeathed to the new black-run government in 1994. Thanks to the apartheid system, the socially constructed racial classifications were so clearly delineated that they can provide a firm basis for evaluating movement toward racial equity. Moreover, few governments have ever assumed power with as strong a mandate to Free download from www.hsrc work for racial justice. Thus the South African experience offers an opportunity to examine in bold relief the possibilities and limitations of achieving a racially equitable education system in a context where such equity is a prime objective. We conclude that South Africa has made significant progress toward equity in education defined as equal treatment of persons of all races— an achievement for which it deserves great praise. For reasons that we explore, however, the country has been less successful in promoting equity, defined either as equal educational opportunity for students of all races or as educational adequacy. Thus educational equity has, to date, been elusive. Our research examines education reform efforts through 2002, which is eight years after the end of the apartheid system. Since this is a very short period, far too short for a thorough overhaul of the system, education reform in South Africa is still very much a work in progress. Nonetheless, much has already been changed and much accomplished. If only because South Africans are in a hurry to make things work, it is reasonable to take stock of the country’s progress at this time. PREFACE ■ xi The Nature of Our Research Education policy in post-apartheid South Africa has been the topic of numerous excellent articles and books, many of them published by researchers and organizations deeply involved in the struggle against apartheid and in the post-1994 education reform process. Among these organizations are the Center for Education Policy Development, Evalua- tion and Management in Johannesburg; Education Policy Units at various South African universities; the Education Foundation; and the Joint ress.ac.za ress.ac.za p Education Trust. In addition, academics at universities throughout the country have contributed significantly to the literature on education reform in South Africa. As a husband-wife team who spent the first six months of 2002 in South Africa, we have benefited greatly both from the published work of the analysts associated with these and other organizations and from the time that many of them have spent sharing their views with us in person. Though we cannot claim to have the insight that many of them possess from their years of direct experience in South Africa, we bring the independence and objectivity of informed outsiders and, we hope, the skills required to do justice to the complex story of educational transformation in South Africa. Free download from www.hsrc One of us is an academic economist and policy analyst who has written widely on education reform in the United States. Her statistical skills are in evidence throughout the book in the analysis of trends and pat- terns across South Africa as well as in more detailed analysis of school- level data within provinces. The other is an education journalist who covered education reform in the United States in his capacity as education editor of the New York Times through 1991 and who since then has written extensively about education reform in developing countries. His observational and reporting skills are reflected in insights from prin- cipals and other school personnel as well as from his accounts of how various reform measures played out in schools. Together we perused policy documents, surveyed the academic literature, and interviewed academic experts and policymakers. These unstructured interviews, con- ducted between February and July 2002, were designed to broaden our understanding of the purposes of various policies as well as of the chal- lenges that arose in their implementation. For the benefit of international readers, we have included a chapter on the country’s complex racial history and one on the role of education xii ■ PREFACE during apartheid. This history is essential as context for understanding the legacy of apartheid and how it shaped the country’s efforts to transform its education system.

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