Equal Education

However, analysis by Stellenbosch University’s Research on SocioEconomic Policy of average class sizes for Grades 1 to 3 reveals the majority of foundation phase classrooms violate this ideal. Close to a third of pupils in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal are in classes that exceed 50, and between 10% and 15% are in classes that exceed 60. Just under 60% of Grade 1 to Grade 3 pupils in Gauteng, and 50% of pupils in the Free State, are in classes with more than 40 pupils.

We support the call for foundation phase classes, and those that are excessively large, to be prioritised when attempts are made to reduce class sizes.

This can only be done if accurate district-level data on class sizes is available. It is also imperative authorities understand the reasons for large classes as these may vary – unresponsive post-provisioning systems, a lack of physical classrooms, teacher absenteeism, or inefficient timetabling. A blanket approach will not suffice.

In order to reap the benefits of smaller classrooms, teaching must be adjusted to make the most of smaller pupil numbers. Reducing class size must be accompanied by proper teacher training.

The Pirls report recommends greater effort to increase the number of younger teachers and significant investment in teacher education to improve the quality of new teachers.

We urge universities offering undergraduate Bachelor of Education degrees to urgently convene to plot precisely how to respond to this challenge. There is little systematic knowledge about the quality of new teachers entering the schooling system.

The Initial Teacher Education Research Project has examined whether university initial teacher education programmes adequately prepare teachers to teach in South African schools. The findings include that none of the case study universities were adequately teaching new intermediate phase (Grades 4 to 6) teachers how to teach reading and writing, in English or in any language.

“Nor was any university substantively addressing issues like how teachers should help pupils navigate the Grade 4 shift in language of learning and teaching from home language to English, or deal with the challenge, especially prevalent in urban areas, of multiple home languages in a single classroom.”

At some universities, less than 10% of the credits required to graduate as a foundation phase teacher are about literacy or reading, despite this being the most important skill children learn in that phase.

There is significant evidence of the strong relationship between pupil achievement and socio-economic status. That socio-economic gaps in cognitive outcomes are established, widen and become more intractable even before children enter school, is well known. The Pirls report asserts that the availability of educational resources in the home is an important factor in reading literacy.

Alongside interventions aimed at urgent improvement in the quality of foundation phase education in historically disadvantaged communities, there is a need to improve access to resources that support learning in the home .

The contribution of the DBE to the social wage is significant, but the government broadly must do more to improve the living standards of South Africans through taking radical redistributive measures to fight unemployment, poverty, and inequality.