“The more you support the weak, the higher you fly.” This statement by the director-general of basic education, Mathanzima Mweli, in his technical report on the results of the national senior certificate class of 2022 is unequivocal.
To achieve the high-performing education system our society and economy so desperately needs, we cannot only celebrate the success of the few, but must support the “weak” and reduce our stark education inequalities. A common characteristic of the world’s best-performing education systems — the ones that “fly” — is that they share a determination to achieve and maintain educational equality. Our educational inequalities reflect obstinate social inequality. Improving education is an indispensable component of achieving our social and economic goals.
The DG indicated that access, redress, equity, efficiency, quality and inclusivity should be the framework for measuring progress in education. He provided rich data against which this progress can be evaluated. The starkest indicator of how poverty affects children at the most basic level is the number who benefit from the national schools nutrition programme (NSNP), which was one of the first initiatives of the government in 1994. It provides a nutritious meal to all pupils in poorer primary and secondary schools, who cannot learn on an empty stomach. In 2022, more than 9-million learners — 72% — were beneficiaries of the NSNP.
The proportions across provinces relative to education performance is instructive: 90% of pupils in Limpopo and 93% in the Eastern Cape need the NSNP, compared with 57% in Gauteng and 35% in the Western Cape. Those who follow comparative “provincial performance” will recognise the perennial low and high performers and thus the relationship between social inequality and educational outcomes.
The consistently high performance of the Free State is notable, and KwaZulu-Natal’s steady improvement is significant
The figures provided by the DG on social grant recipients in the class of 2022 show a similar pattern. The families of 88% of learners who wrote the NSC last year in Limpopo have been recipients of social grants (care dependency, child support, disability, foster care or a combination of these). The figures are 87% in the Eastern Cape, 69% in Gauteng and 64% in the Western Cape.
Nationally, 68% of the class of 2022 attended no-fee schools serving the poorest communities. The figure for Limpopo is 92%, for Eastern Cape 86%, for Gauteng 38% and for the Western Cape 35%. Several observations arise from these examples. First, the support provided from the fiscus to combat the effects of poverty in education is extensive. Second, greater respect must be given to educators working to ensure learning in contexts of socioeconomic challenge — they are certainly not the “weak”. Last, the improvements in 2022 by Limpopo (5.4%) and Eastern Cape (4.3%) deserve greater celebration.
The department of basic education is to be congratulated for shifting away from an overtly provincially competitive approach in the presentation of the results. Contexts of teaching and learning are not comparable, nor should we underestimate the significant inequalities internal to these provinces. Across all provinces, the retention of learners from grade 10 on must be more closely interrogated to understand the relationship between the dropout rate and provincial performance.
The Free State and KwaZulu-Natal stand out for beating the socioeconomic odds. Six of the 10 top-performing districts in 2022 are from these two provinces. The consistently high performance of the Free State is notable, and KwaZulu-Natal’s steady improvement is significant because of the administrative complexity of supporting 25% of the country’s learners. The reasons for these successes must be understood, and lessons learnt for system improvement. Umkhanyakude in northern KwaZulu-Natal is the largest and the most economically deprived of these 10 districts and could provide a valuable study in education leadership.
If social justice principles should be the framework for measuring progress in education, what progress can be seen in the results of 2022? What progress must be made?
In terms of access and retention, the high levels of participation into secondary schools represent progress since 1994, but we must understand the contours of the problem of dropout, and what must be done to eliminate it. Far too many students leave school before completing grade 12, which leaves a debilitating sense of failure and little hope for meaningful social inclusion. At the same time, nearly 12,000 learners who were 21 years and older were enrolled full-time in schools in 2022 — and the majority were male. The tenacity required to persevere despite multiple failures is impressive, and their accommodation within the system admirable. We can learn from studying this phenomenon.
In terms of one dimension of inclusivity, the department’s report provides some detail on participation of learners with special needs. But existing data on the inclusion of all learners with special needs is contested, and information is not available on participation relative to socioeconomic indicators, and across and within provinces, nor do we have information on retention. This must be prioritised for further research and action.
We must understand the contours of the problem of drop-out, and what must be done to eliminate it
In terms of redress and equity, the pro-poor, equitable funding formula for schools, the NSNP and social grants (as inputs) are significant. Data presented on gender equity in the technical report deserves analysis. A teaser: in 2022, 58% of female pupils and 44% of males achieved a bachelor’s NSC pass. This gap warrants further examination.
The report provides rich information on NSC performance relative to socioeconomic status. This celebrates significant progress, but reveals a persistent gap. Quintile 5 schools (those that cater for the financially best-off 20% of children) are in less-poor communities and are fee-paying; quintile 1 schools serve the poorest communities and are non-fee-paying. In the 2021 NSC, 32% of learners in quintile 1 schools achieved 80% or above. In 2022, the figure jumped to 48% — a remarkable improvement. We must celebrate this and the efforts it represents, but it is not enough. For pupils in quintile 5 schools, in 2021 and 2022, more than 82% achieved above 80%. One indicator of QUALITY of performance is “admission to bachelor-level” passes. There was progress in this category in quintile 1 schools last year, but inequity remains.
Both quality and efficiency are significant components of a social justice framework. Neither can be compromised to achieve other dimensions of the framework. Investments in quality outcomes from the early years of education would be a potent strategy to address the inefficiencies of repetition and dropout, and to improve quality, success and equity in the system. We will achieve the goals of social justice in education when relative poverty and wealth do not so clearly determine educational outcomes. We will “fly higher by supporting the weak”.
• Metcalfe is professor of practice in the University of Johannesburg’s school of public management, governance & public policy.
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