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Education Activism in South Africa: Equal Education

Equal Education Rally in 2019

The education system is a major issue within South Africa (SA) which requires immediate attention in order for change and necessary progress to be made. It is characterized by a wide variety of issues, the most predominant being inadequate infrastructure, poor sanitation and overcrowding. These problems have particularly affected minority groups whose schools were underfunded during the Apartheid; the inequalities created by the Apartheid are deeply ingrained and have played a huge role in making SA's schooling system unequal. Fortunately, there are organizations and communities that are coming together to combat the issues which have been mentioned. Equal Education is a non-profit organization in SA which utilizes activism to fight against such issues and instead achieve quality education. Their research and campaigns have already initiated positive changes but their ultimate goal is to enable that every student has access to equal and high standard education.

Who Is Equal Education?

Equal Education (EE) is a South African non-profit organization which was founded in 2008 and is based in Khayelitsha in Cape Town SA. This organization is made up of students, post-school youth, parents, teaches and community members whom work together through campaigns, petitions, picketing and marches in order to push for and achieve equal education for South Africans. Through their activism, research and analytical work they have become one of SA's leading grass-root voices on educational issues.

EE's Approach to Key Educational Issues

The Issue of Infrastructure

Background on the Problem with Infrastructure in SA

There are thousands of schools within SA that do not have the basic infrastructure that is needed to provide high standard education which all students should be receiving.

The Department of Basic Education’s (DBE) National Education Infrastructure Management System (NEIMS) Report utilizes statistics to highlight the shocking lack of infrastructural resources at public schools. This report details that, of the 24 793 public ordinary schools within the country:

• 3 544 schools do not have electricity
• 2402 schools have no water supply
• 913 do not have any ablution facilities
• 22 938 schools do not have stocked libraries

EE's Response

These are only a few examples of the lack of necessary infrastructure in South African public schools. As a result of this, EE has placed a huge priority upon enabling more schools to have adequate infrastructure for pupils to work in. The organization's concerns prompted them to begin a campaign that would convince Minister Motshekga to promote regulations that would align with the Minimum Norms and Standards. This campaign has taken many forms, from marches to petitions to sending letters to the minister. However, what began as a somewhat political movement soon became more of a legal battle when it became evident that EE had to resort to the courts to persuade the Minister into promoting the norms. The Minister issued Infrastructure Guidelines in May 2012, which were not legally binding and hence could not assure that schools were equipped with a sufficient minimal core level of infrastructural facilities required for learners to learn in a healthy environment. In response to EE's court application, the Minister argued that regulations on school infrastructure were unnecessary.

A Victory for EE

Despite this EE persisted, providing a draft that stated that “water, electricity, classrooms, toilets and fencing should be provided within 10 years, and all other norms by 2030.” After many trials and tribulations Minister Motshekga finally adopted legally binding Norms and Standards for School Infrastructure on the 29th November 2013. This was a ground-breaking moment in EE’s and SA educational history as it is now the law that every school must have basic infrastructural facilities such as water, electricity and working toilets.

The Issue of Sanitation

Background of the Sanitation Issue in SA

Another prevalent problem within South African schools is the lack of sanitation. High sanitary conditions are extremely important for any schools to have as it provides a safe and secure environment for pupils to learn in.

This is particularly evident with the case of Michael Komape. Michael was only five years old when he died at the bottom of a pit toilet at his school in Limpopo in 2013. This unfortunate incident is a stark reminder of the urgent attention that must be provided to improve school sanitation; the Department of Basic Education’s NEIMS report in 2014 which stated that around 500 schools have no sanitation facilities at all and nearly half of all schools use pit toilets.

EE's Response

As a result of such terrible conditions EE has taken a stand, conducting one of the largest social audits in SA. EE student members (“Equalisers”), EE parent members, churches and community organizations came together to protest, march, picket and even meet with government officials. The Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) responded to EE’s campaign by allocating R750 million to upgrade conditions at 578 schools serving around 500,000 students. Government contractors have fixed or replaced the taps, pipes, toilets and basins at these schools.

The Issue of Overcrowding

Background of Overcrowding in Gauteng, SA

Overcrowding is a prominent yet forgotten and overlooked problem within South African schools. Therefore between September 2019 and June 2020 EE conducted research into the causes and effects of overcrowding in Gauteng schools in order to understand what should consequently be done to alleviate this issue going forward.

They began their research in nine schools in the town of Etwatwa in the Gauteng province. Whilst doing this EE also reviewed existing research on the issue of overcrowding to better their understanding on the complex issue and develop their campaign goals. They collected data on 751 classes, inspected 105 classrooms and conducted interviews with 51 school community members.

Firstly, it is important to understand what characterizes a school as overcrowded in the South African context. Ultimately, a school is deemed as overcrowded when there is a shortage or insufficient supply of social resources whether that be the furniture within the classrooms or the allocation of teachers, in turn creating an ineffective learning environment to serve the learners enrolled at the school.

Findings from Research

Some of the key findings from EE’s research includes :

• Overcrowded classes found all nine schools
• Of all the classes assessed across the nine schools, 751 total, 74% of these have over 40 learners
• All nine schools are using classrooms that are too small for the number of learners they hold
• At least 65% of all teachers interviewed I’ve ever worked based on the teaching schedule
• 82% of classrooms inspected lack sufficient furniture / infrastructure

Whilst doing their research, EE simultaneously reviewed existing research on the issue of overcrowding. When comparing the situation EE encountered in schools with the statistics reported by the GDE and DBE, they observed that the measurements used by the DBE and GDE to assess whether there is a shortage of resources do not reflect the reality in schools. The DBE and GDE’s method of measuring whether schools are overcrowded shows that only one of the nine schools have class sizes that are too big, five of the nine schools have a classroom shortage and that there is only a small teacher shortage. These statistics are used by the GDE to claim that while there is a classroom shortage schools have enough teachers, classes are the right size, and schools are generally not overcrowded.

The school infrastructure norms and other policies divide resources based on simplified measurements that do not detect overcrowding in schools. EE concluded that if we continue to divide resources based on these models, schools will likely stay overcrowded even when there are enough resources in the education system. Throughout this research it becomes blatantly evident that overcrowding should not be understood and is not being experienced as a single entity, but rather as the relationship between different factors that make up the school environment.

EE’s research shows that overcrowding is not caused and is not merely dependent on one factor. It can be caused by excessive class sizes, the unequal distribution of teachers between schools and the shortage of classrooms and other infrastructures. It is important to note that it is the relationship between all of these factors that causes overcrowding.

Overcrowding is an issue that must be addressed due to the effects it is having. For example when schools have an excess number of students it makes it difficult for teachers to provide attention and guidance to learners on an individual basis. As a result learners may feel neglected and become disengaged from their studies causing disruptive behavior. Teachers spend the time addressing disruptive behavior, meaning that some learners inevitably fall behind and content is not being taught effectively. As well as this when there are too many students within a classroom, ventilation is affected which will affect the performance and concentration of learners, especially if there are no ceiling fans or air conditioners. Too many students can also cause infrastructure to deteriorate quicker.

EE's Response

EE states that when determining whether a school is overcrowded the various components of overcrowding must be taken into account in a relational way. The DBE must develop and publish uniform minimum norms and standards for school capacity that are binding, include deadlines by which to meet minimum requirements and measures overcrowding by taking into account the relational nature of school resources and the actual conditions in which learning takes place. Although overcrowding is an existing and current issue within Gauteng schools, the fact that EE have identified that it is a problem, conducted research into it, and suggested potential solutions to eradicate such an issue is a step in the right direction.

Conclusion

As evidenced above, Equal Education has been a prevalent force within fixing SA’s troubled education system, forming a framework which gives hope to SA’s student’s that their futures are being cared for. EE’s work with the government, insightful research, organization of marches and petitions coupled with their ability to elevate marginalized voices has enabled the organization to achieve the change that it has thus far. However, it is important to remember that there is still a lot of work to be done. Although EE have begun to alleviate the infrastructural, sanitary and overcrowding issues within South African schools, the problems still exist and therefore require constant attention over the upcoming years in order to start seeing big changes in the education system.

Topic Paragraph

I chose this topic because I am passionate about the importance of every individual having access to quality and equal education. Attending a school that is safe, enriching and has an adequate amount of resources for all students should not be a luxury, however, unfortunately this is not the case in many places around the world, particularly in SA where the schooling system and the quality of education is failing many people every year. Equal Education is a non-profit organization in SA which utilizes activism to fight against this educational crisis and instead achieve quality education. Within my article I would like to identify what some of SA’s biggest constraints are within their schooling system, research the specific work that Equal Education has done in order to combat such constraints and identify what they have done successfully and what still needs to be done in order for SA’s education system to be at the level it should be.

Annotated Bibliography

1. Amnesty International, (2020) ‘South Africa: Broken and unequal education perpetuating poverty and inequality’. Available at:

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/02/south-africa-broken-and-unequal-education-perpetuating-poverty-and-inequality/

This article talks about:

• the key issues within South African schools which are detrimental to the livelihoods of young South Africans
• how these issues are worse off dependent on where you were born, the colour of your skin, and the extent of your wealth
• the lack of urgency and attention paid by the government
• Amnesty International is doing work within South Africa to put an end to this and help children get the education that they deserve

2. ‘Equal Education’. Available at:

https://equaleducation.org.za/

Type of source - Website:

• This is the official website of the non-profit organization 'Equal Education'
• It has an expanse of information ranging from its history and how it was formed, to info about the movement, the work they do and the progress they have made

3. Equal Education, (2018) ‘We Are Not Failures, We Are Being Failed! An Equaliser-made documentary’. Available at:

https://equaleducation.org.za/videos/

Type of source - Video:

• This is one of many videos that can be found on the official 'Equal Education' website which talks about and illustrates why there needs to be action taken in South African schools, pulling from the experiences of real life individuals whom are being failed by the school system, and as an extension of that South Africa's government