REPORT BY THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Introduction

The National Assessment tests for literacy and numeracy were written by six million learners in grades 2 to 7 and grade 10 in February of 2010. The recently released results signal long-term problems within the South African education system.

The study highlighted the link between poverty and poor school results, particularly in subjects aligned to literacy and numeracy. It showed that betterresourced schools in wealthier areas perform significantly better than their counterparts in poorer and less well-resourced areas. In comparable tests, learners attending poorer schools were more likely to achieve test scores below 35% for numeracy and literacy subjects, while learners in wealthier schools were more likely to achieve test scores of 50% or more.

While the test scores point to significant problems in the educational system as a whole, more concerning are the results from the Western Cape, historically considered one of the better performing provinces. More than half of the Western Cape learners tested could not calculate, read or write at the required levels. While reflecting the position in the Western Cape as poor, the results in this province still were still better than those achieved by learners in other provinces in South Africa.

As part of the national assessment, schools are ranked in quintiles, which are essentially the poverty score of the school, as determined by the level of poverty in the immediate community in which the school is located. There are five quintile rankings, with the schools located in the poorest areas being ranked as quintile one and the most affluent areas as quintile five. However, what has been highlighted is that while quintile one schools performed badly, evidence suggests that higher-ranked schools were also struggling and that there was a need to address underperformance at all schools irrespective of the quintile ranking.

It is clear that the present structure of education in South Africa is not working optimally. If the level of education is not picked up across the board, the ability of South Africa to field a well-educated workforce will remain low. This has a ripple effect on areas such as job creation, poverty alleviation and the requirements for the national economy to expand at the desired 6–7% growth rate as proposed by the Finance Minister.

I recently met with the Director General of the Department of Basic Education to discuss the ‘third tier’ model of schooling, a model we endorse for our historic schools. The third tier model requires full government support and funding, augmented by the private sector, alumni and other sources, but which allows for full management autonomy at the schools. In the past this model had not been seen as a solution by government. However, in the most recent meeting there was a clear commitment to explore this as an option. What also was heartening was the willingness of the Department of Education to consider engaging in partnerships with a broad cross-section of role players in the education sector in an effort to make a positive difference to the educational outcomes in South African schools.

This change of stance is warmly welcomed and the HSRP commits to supporting the Department of Education as they work through these different scenarios. We are more than willing to be a catalyst for bringing together partners to make a difference to education and to the future of our country.

Njongo Ndungane
Executive Director