“Access and opportunity” -

Schooling in Khayelitsha, an introduction

Jonathan Clark, Schools Development Unit/Schools Improvement Initiative, UCT

KHAYELITSHA

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• Demographics

• History

THE CONTEXT

First houses in 1983, rapid expansion through 1990s, slow down in growth over past five years

430 000 people (2015)

‘…a mix of modest prosperity (and occasional affluence) with widespread poverty (of varying severity)…’

Seekings, 2013:20

• Social & Economic conditions

44

• Crime & Violence

• Health

Highest reported murder rate in SA: 354 in 2012/2013

One of the greatest burdens of both HIV and TB in the country; TB/HIV co-infection rates close to 70%

Many children exposed to co-occurring forms of violence

Schooling in Khayelitsha

34 Primary (Grades R - 7)1 Intermediate (Grades R – 9)20 Secondary (Grades 8 – 12)3 LSEN (‘Special Needs’) 3 Private schools 1 162 learners

642 learners

Low fee private schools are NOT as yet a feature of this educational landscape…

77

Additional 3 000-odd learners in community creches

88

99

Additional 3 000-odd learners in community creches

1010

• Most attend schools in the township

• (almost) everyone’s in school

SOME FEATURES OF SCHOOLING

Less than 2% of 7-15 year olds are out of school

No more than 5% attend schools outside of the township

• Majority progress with their age cohorts

Repetition & drop out rates are low, particularly across compulsory GET Band (Grades R-9)

Up to ⅔rds attend neighborhood schools

1111

• Overall, schooling is quite stable

• In-migration from Eastern Cape

Low growth in primary sector (1% per year); actual decline in secondary numbers (-10%) between 2009-2015

At most up to 15% of learners; greater impact in schools located near informal settlements

Spare capacity, some isolated incidents of localised shortages of places

1212

• On language Tight knit, cohesive and essentially isolated monolingual community

• Gender matters Gender Parity Index (GPI): by Grade 12, 60% are female

• Subject choice: a measure of disadvantage

• The ‘Arts’ (music, visual arts, drama) at one school

• IT at one school• CATN at five schools• Economics at 18 schools (almost

unknown in exModel C sector)

Only 1,5% (900-odd) learners receive tuition in a language other than isiXhosa

1313

• Funding • All schools are ‘no fee’ schools• Majority are designated Quintile 2

(poorest rural schools are Quintile 1, exModel Cs are Quintile 5)

• Few (if any) Governing Body posts

• Resourcing High levels of efficiency in terms of delivering available material resources

The upper limit of what the State can afford at current levels of National expenditure?

1414

Public ordinary & Grade R: 63 000Private & LSEN: 1 800Out-of-township: 2 700 67 500

‘in-school’Summing up….

1515

Compulsory (Grade R-9): 53 500Out-of-school: 1 500 max 55 000

‘A puzzle…’

Census 2011Estimated number of children in 7-15 age group in 2015

70 000?

TO BE RESEARCHED FURTHER…

Even allowing for ‘out-of-township’ enrolments & out-of-school numbers significantly higher than estimated here, it would appear as if there is a huge discrepancy between the number of 7-15 years predicted by Census 2011 and those actually living in the township

OPPORTUNITY

Focus here on schooling outcomes as measured by performance in the exit-level Matric examination

Historical trends in Matric performance: Khayelitsha versus Provincial versus National

Beyond pass rates

Middle class

Working class

Bi-modal performance

• Minimum requirement for entrance to STEM fields of study: scores of 60%+ in mathematics & physical sciences in combination

The ‘opportunity ticket’

2014 Wrote 2014 Passed 2014 B-

degrees

60% + for Maths & Physical sciences in 2014

2 755 2 065(75,0%)

622(22,6%)

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• Six schools had no Matriculant scoring at this level, including the school with the highest pass rate!

1:55

Even relatively high performing working class township schools are producing subject-level matric results between two & three grade levels (i.e. 20-30%) lower than their middle class counterparts

This is the real measure of the lack of educational opportunities in the post-apartheid schooling system

Our reality, our challenge

‘Equality of access, without equality of opportunity’