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In 1976, the Soweto student uprising, led by South African high school students fed up with their country's oppressive education system, turned violent and became a symbol for the movement to end apartheid. Today, South Africa's schools are still struggling to give every citizen an equal opportunity.
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1991 |
2001 |
| No Schooling |
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| Black |
24% |
22.3% |
| Mixed-race |
12% |
8.3% |
| Asian |
7% |
5.3% |
| White |
1% |
1.4% |
| Completed Grade 12 |
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| Black |
8% |
16.8% |
| Mixed-race |
9% |
18.5% |
| Asian |
24% |
34.9% |
| White |
37% |
40.9% |
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Source: Statistics South Africa, Census 1991 and 2001
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Although statistics from 2001 suggest progress has been made, the disparity between white and black educational achievement remains stark.
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During apartheid, South Africa's school system was segregated into four national departments: White, Brown (Mixed-race), Asian, and Black. The Black Education Department was plagued by inadequate funding, under-trained teachers, poor facilities (many schools had no electricity), and a high dropout rate -- facilitated by the lack of a compulsory education law for Africans. Curriculum was also designed based on the assumption of African racial inferiority. Math and science were deliberately neglected in order to produce a dependable source of cheap labor.
Today, South Africa's schools have officially been desegregated, but counteracting the years of apartheid bureaucracy has been easier said than done.
Under the new system, the schools in each province have a large degree of autonomy, putting poor regions, where community members are less educated and experienced in governing a functional school system, at a distinct disadvantage. Although the poorest students are exempt from escalating school fees, many who don't qualify for exemption still can't afford the additional costs -- uniforms, materials, field trips -- required to attend the better schools. In smaller towns, according to a BBC report, those black students who do manage to get into the good schools still often find themselves in separate classrooms from their white classmates, because most blacks speak English or indigenous languages and most whites speak Afrikaans. In general, black students are still subject to subtle, if not overt, racism in a school system that is still primarily run by whites.
Even so, the old system has been painstakingly rebuilt with new policy. Since 1994 South Africa has committed the largest single segment of its national budget to education. By 2000, 10,000 classrooms were built or repaired. In 1998, Curriculum 2005, a program aimed at improving teacher training and the content of classes, was launched. New textbooks and other learning materials were provided and standards for training and hiring teachers were reformed. The government's initiatives and commitment to education has brought successes. By 2002, the Matric exam (taken at the end of grade 12) pass rate, as low as 40 percent in the 1990s, increased to 68.9 percent.
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