Since 1994 education at government school level has been a Provincial competency
within national standards and policy.
The first challenge of the new housing department in Gauteng was to unify education
by amalgamating the previously fragmented and racially based departments.
The next major challenge has been to address the huge historical imbalances that
existed as a result of the Apartheid “Bantu” education policy and
the huge disparity in investment per learner between the schools in the previous
white areas (suburbs) and the previously black areas (townships). This process
is clearly on-going and although progress has been made, there is still a perceived
and real gap between the education in the township schools and the suburban schools.
An inspection of some of the well known schools in Soweto has revealed a paucity
of much needed material for example in the equipping of science laboratories.
The supply of both equipment as well as chemicals is extremely limited. This
means that the teacher has only enough resources to demonstrate experiments to
the class leaving no opportunity for the learners to experiment themselves. Clearly
this limits the extent of learning.
The problem seems to lie in the amount of material that can be supplied by the
department and how much has to be purchased by the school out of own funds.
School fees are a necessary source of funding to augment what the government
can supply. Here it seems that the amount that can be levied on a township school
family is constrained by the levels of income resulting in a much smaller pot
of money available in Township schools. A survey of a sample of schools has revealed
as follows:
Township primary school- annual school fee R 80
Township high school- annual school fee R 100
Suburban primary school- annual school fee R 2500 to R7425
Top suburban high school-annual school fee R10000
The disparity of 100 fold between an average township school and a top suburban
must clearly manifest itself in a disparity in the level of education received.
The result is that many families who have the financial resources send their
children to suburban schools or even private schools where the fees are even
higher-top private school R40000pa. Government at national level has recently
announced a new policy to subsidise poor families who cannot afford to pay school
fees.
Soweto has 261 primary and 64 secondary schools.
In terms of tertiary educational facilities there is one university, Vista, and
2 technical colleges.
One of the huge challenges is the fact that the majority of school leavers, from
the townships are unable to find employment. A survey a particular class of school
leavers from a Soweto school who matriculated in 2000 who could be traced revealed
the following:
Now formally employed 8 (32%) store manager 1
Security 2
SA Army 1
Merchandising 2
Stock taking 1
Receptionist 1
Unemployed 12 (48%)
Informal work 2 ( 8%)
Still studying 3 ( 12%)
Of the group, 10 people had done some short course since leaving school. It is
difficult to ascertain if these short courses have helped as half of those who
studied did get jobs and half didn’t. It seem that some studies will possibly
help but this doesn’t guarantee jobs.
Another informal survey conducted amongst a youth group in Soweto revealed the
following: Out of the group of 55 surveyed, 5 were formally employed in commerce
and industry, 9 in the informal sector and 41 were unemployed.
Another interesting case study was Ernest a young man who also left school in
2000.
He currently cleans cars outside of a famous restaurant in Soweto charging R10
per car.
He grew up and lives in Zola and attended Grace high school in Roodepoort suburbs.
Of his class of 32, 28 came from Soweto and only 4 white kids from the suburbs.
All 4 of the white school leavers have obtained jobs in the tele-communication
industry.
Of the 28 black leavers 5 are studying at Wits university on scholarships, 3
were killed in a car accident and one died of Aids.
Of the remaining 18, 12 are unemployed or are working like Ernest in the informal
sector cleaning cars etc. 7 are formally employed in Johannesburg.
It is of course a world-wide phenomenon that more and more
people are unable to find employment in the formal sector
and large numbers are relying on self-employment.
The informal sector in South Africa is characterised by a few earning a decent
living but many are at a survivalist level.
Education and support mechanisms largely fail the self-employed.
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