2023
BPT1501
PORTFOLIO
DUE DATE: 19 JUNE 2023
SEMESTER 1 2023 DUE: 19 JUNE 2023
UNISA 11:00PM
, BPT1501 SEMESTER 1 PORTFOLIO 2023
South Africa: Broken And Unequal Education
Perpetuating Poverty And Inequality
The South African education system, characterised by crumbling infrastructure,
overcrowded classrooms and relatively poor educational outcomes, is perpetuating
inequality and as a result failing too many of its children, with the poor hardest hit,
according to a new report published by Amnesty International on Tuesday.
Broken and Unequal: The State of Education in South Africa calls on the government
to urgently address a number of endemic failings in the system in order to guarantee
the right to a decent education for every child in South Africa.
The report particularly highlights poor infrastructure in public schools including
sanitation which has tragically resulted in the death of two children in pit latrines in
recent years. “For South Africa to comply with both its own constitutional and
international human rights obligations with respect to education, major change is
needed urgently, “said Shenilla Mohamed, Executive Director of Amnesty
International South Africa. “The right to quality education includes having a school
where learners are safe to learn and have the adequate infrastructure and facilities
to do so, but our research has found that this is not the reality for many learners in
the country.”
The report details how the education system continues to be dogged by stark
inequalities and chronic underperformance that have deep roots in the legacy of
apartheid, but which are also not being effectively tackled by the current government.
For example, it brings to the fore that many schools and the communities they serve
continue to live with the consequences of the political and economic decisions made
during the apartheid era where people were segregated according to their skin
colour, with schools serving white communities properly resourced. The result of this
modern-day South Africa is that a child’s experience of education still very much
depends on where they are born, how wealthy they are, and the colour of their skin.
As the President prepares to deliver the State of the National Address this week, the
critical question is: why is it that a child’s experience of education in South Africa still
depends very much on where they are born, how wealthy they are, and the colour of
their skin?
While the report acknowledges that there has been progress made since the end of
apartheid on widening access to education as well as other aspects, it has identified
weaknesses by the Department of Basic Education, such as repeatedly failing to
reach its own targets with respect to infrastructure and facilities. In these
circumstances it is not surprising that educational outcomes remain relatively poor.
For example, a recent international survey found that more than three quarters of
children aged nine cannot read for meaning. In some provinces this is as high as
91% in Limpopo and 85% in the Eastern Cape. And of 100 learners that start school,
50-60 will make it to matric, 40-50 will pass matric, and only 14 will go to university.
“South Africa has one of the most unequal school systems in the world. Children in
the top 200 schools achieve more distinctions in mathematics than children in the
next 6,600schools combined. The playing field must be levelled.” The right to quality
education includes having a school where learners are safe to learn and have the
BPT1501
PORTFOLIO
DUE DATE: 19 JUNE 2023
SEMESTER 1 2023 DUE: 19 JUNE 2023
UNISA 11:00PM
, BPT1501 SEMESTER 1 PORTFOLIO 2023
South Africa: Broken And Unequal Education
Perpetuating Poverty And Inequality
The South African education system, characterised by crumbling infrastructure,
overcrowded classrooms and relatively poor educational outcomes, is perpetuating
inequality and as a result failing too many of its children, with the poor hardest hit,
according to a new report published by Amnesty International on Tuesday.
Broken and Unequal: The State of Education in South Africa calls on the government
to urgently address a number of endemic failings in the system in order to guarantee
the right to a decent education for every child in South Africa.
The report particularly highlights poor infrastructure in public schools including
sanitation which has tragically resulted in the death of two children in pit latrines in
recent years. “For South Africa to comply with both its own constitutional and
international human rights obligations with respect to education, major change is
needed urgently, “said Shenilla Mohamed, Executive Director of Amnesty
International South Africa. “The right to quality education includes having a school
where learners are safe to learn and have the adequate infrastructure and facilities
to do so, but our research has found that this is not the reality for many learners in
the country.”
The report details how the education system continues to be dogged by stark
inequalities and chronic underperformance that have deep roots in the legacy of
apartheid, but which are also not being effectively tackled by the current government.
For example, it brings to the fore that many schools and the communities they serve
continue to live with the consequences of the political and economic decisions made
during the apartheid era where people were segregated according to their skin
colour, with schools serving white communities properly resourced. The result of this
modern-day South Africa is that a child’s experience of education still very much
depends on where they are born, how wealthy they are, and the colour of their skin.
As the President prepares to deliver the State of the National Address this week, the
critical question is: why is it that a child’s experience of education in South Africa still
depends very much on where they are born, how wealthy they are, and the colour of
their skin?
While the report acknowledges that there has been progress made since the end of
apartheid on widening access to education as well as other aspects, it has identified
weaknesses by the Department of Basic Education, such as repeatedly failing to
reach its own targets with respect to infrastructure and facilities. In these
circumstances it is not surprising that educational outcomes remain relatively poor.
For example, a recent international survey found that more than three quarters of
children aged nine cannot read for meaning. In some provinces this is as high as
91% in Limpopo and 85% in the Eastern Cape. And of 100 learners that start school,
50-60 will make it to matric, 40-50 will pass matric, and only 14 will go to university.
“South Africa has one of the most unequal school systems in the world. Children in
the top 200 schools achieve more distinctions in mathematics than children in the
next 6,600schools combined. The playing field must be levelled.” The right to quality
education includes having a school where learners are safe to learn and have the
