Abstract
In South African Schooling: The Enigma of Inequality, Spaull and Jansen, two internationally renowned experts in education, assemble an impressive group of leading scholars, educationalists, and economists to analyze the historical and contemporary dynamics of the education sector in South Africa. Central to this analysis is the state of equity and access in the present-day South African schools. The golden thread argument throughout the book is that the country’s schooling system presently perpetuates the predictable fault lines, inequalities, and legacies of the apartheid regime. These ensue despite small- and large-scale interventions to bring about change in pursuit of equality (the sameness of treatment) and equity (the differentiated treatment through, for example, redistribution of resources from the privileged to the needy schools). Collectively, the different chapters in this book make a strong case that factors, such as who you are (race and language), where you come from (urban or rural), what your parents earn (wealth and class), and which school you attend (privileged or disadvantaged), strongly determine the educational outcomes of learners and, arguably, their thrive in career paths beyond schooling. In so many ways, the volume presents the data that show that education policy reform since 1994 has not adequately dealt with this enigma of unequal outcomes of learner performance, disparities in the quality of education, and unequal distribution of resources across schools.
The framing chapter of the book paints a more pessimistic picture of rife inequalities in the education sector in South Africa. It challenges the reader to think more broadly about the implications of these current inequalities. The thrust of this volume is best captured by the overarching question: How, in practical terms, does one get to a more equitable distribution of teachers, resources, and learning outcomes? Moreover, what are the political, social, and financial price-tags attached to doing so? (p. 2). The subsequent 18 chapters, in one way or the other, respond to these questions. Some chapters focus on the considerable progress and shifts that have been made in both the level and distribution of educational outcomes from 1994 to date (p. 25). Others document several tangible interventions aimed at reducing inequalities by improving early grade reading outcomes in poor schools through advanced lesson plans, as well as teacher-coaches, and adequate resources (pp. 87, 147, 321). While generally supportive of these interventions, other authors to the volume caution that these gains are the low-hanging fruits of a hugely underperforming schooling system (p. 2). Furthermore, some authors argue that unless teachers get to acquire higher levels of content knowledge of what they teach (p. 263) and meaningful capacity building to improve their pedagogical practices (p. 243), any trajectory of primary education system improvement will remain a deferred dream. Beyond progressing teacher competencies, the volume also foregrounds numerous deficiencies in schools’ funding model (p. 67) and the centrality of politics in that regard, looking particularly on the significant role and buy-in power of the South African Democratic Teachers Union—SADTU (p. 355).
Our key takeaway point from this book is that there has generally been a slow pace of improvement in “the education system’s underlying performance” in South Africa since 1994 (p. 25). What we have also learned is that those improvements are unfortunately from a shallow base. The cutting-edge research presented in this book also reveals that the schooling system remains highly unequal in terms of learning attainments by race, class, gender, and geography. In terms of gender, the book makes a strong case that girls perform better than boys in the school system (p. 225). In terms of race, the book demonstrates disparities between low-quality Black public schools and higher quality White private schools (p. 7). In terms of class, the book reveals how the system is intentional about maintaining a discriminatory differentiation between learners who can pay school fees and those who cannot. In terms of geography, the book makes it evident that more infrastructure provision is often made to urban-based schools at the expense of rural-based schools.
Another important observation to be drawn from this volume is that teacher development (both in content knowledge and pedagogy) is the potential solution in bridging the gap between competence and practical coverage of the curriculum. The book also presents fresh perspectives on how to achieve equity across schools by actively calling upon the government to make significant teacher deployment in the weakest and previously disadvantaged schools. Emphasis is also placed on investment and capitalization in the in-classroom mentoring and coaching of teachers through a defined model of peer review and structured support. To this end, we now come to observe that it is beyond question that the South African school system struggles with the legacy of apartheid and that this continues to strangulate equity in the sector. We have also observed that whether political will and strong capacity exist to fight and reduce the level of inequalities in schools remains something to be seen.
Our thoroughly considered view is that this edited volume of perspectives best marks a deep appreciation of inequalities in the education sector as experienced in South Africa than any other previous work. It carefully and skilfully unpacks the historical and contemporary dynamics of education policy and practice in the country. The golden thread weaving throughout the book simplifies the complex nature of the central topic and tames its potential controversy. It challenges the reader to think broadly and critically about the current general status of the education system in South Africa. Besides, the book is rich in content, inspiring in vision and empowering of the targeted readership. It has made an impressive attempt to fill in some evident gaps that may not have been addressed by the policies or even legislation. For instance, one such gap is on how to strike the fiscal and human resource balance between the poor and privileged schools (Chapters 4 and 14). The book has commendably attempted to address those gaps innovatively and, as such, is ahead of the law itself, is forward-looking, and progressive.
Moreover, we were particularly intrigued by the transformative element of this book, which is readily noticeable to the reader. From the framing chapter to the final chapter, there is a strong reverberation of the call for large-scale change and radical transformation in the sector. The different chapters challenge the status quo. Critical transformation issues are explored at length, such as the drastic consequences of inequalities in education (Chapter 1); the efficiency and otherwise of the efforts taken in terms of dealing with these inequalities (Chapter 2); the constraining factors (Chapters 12 and 14); rigorous curriculum reform, language policy, and the possible avenues through which the system can be improved (Chapters 4, 6, 7, 16, and 19). All these contributions are innovative efforts that provide a launchpad from which other scholars in the field can take a retrospective gaze into the past, reflect on current realities, and theorize what is possible moving forward. Furthermore, the book honors outstandingly the voices of the silenced, marginalized, and subjugated discourses within South African education, fields of policy, and the broader society.
The editorial care of the volume is exceptional. Throughout the 19 chapters, the book contains elaborate notes, visuals, and detailed bibliographies. One oversight of the book, however, is the lack of cross-referencing where similar ideas are being discussed across various chapters. We believe that the reader would benefit significantly from cross-referencing, tying the same idea throughout together. Therefore, we strongly recommend that this volume be translated into many other languages for a broader readership. Also, a truncation of the volume into a shorter version (utilizing handbooks) may help educate the general public and sensitize them about the real issues confronting the education sector.
In conclusion, the book is very instructive and makes a critical and excellent contribution to the field. It is a crucial addition to demystifying the controversies and intricacies of the issues around the primary education sector. The book is recommended to all government officials, educators, basic education policy developers and practitioners, education students, and scholars who are interested in understanding the outlook of the education system in South Africa, as well as its current status and the future envisioned.