BPT1501 PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT
SEMESTER 1 OF 2023
UNIQUE CODE:
, TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE NO.
1. Article ……………………………………………………………………………………… 2–5
2. Question 1 ………………………………………………………………………………. 6–9
3. Question 2 ………………………………………………………………………………. 10 – 11
4. Online Extract …………………………………………………………………………. 12
5. Question 3 ………………………………………………………………………………. 13 – 18
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, 1. ARTICLE:
South Africa: Broken and unequal education perpetuating poverty and inequality
The South African education system, characterised by crumbling infrastructure,
overcrowded classrooms and relatively poor educational outcomes, is perpetuating
inequality and as a result failing too many of its children, with the poor hardest hit according
to a new report published by Amnesty International today.
Broken and Unequal: The State of Education in South Africa calls on the government to
urgently address a number of endemic failings in the system in order to guarantee the right
to a decent education for every child in South Africa.
The report particularly highlights poor infrastructure in public schools including sanitation
which has tragically resulted in the death of two children in pit latrines in recent years.
“For South Africa to comply with both its own constitutional and international human rights
obligations with respect to education, major change is needed urgently,” said Shenilla
Mohamed, Executive Director of Amnesty International South Africa.
“The right to quality education includes having a school where learners are safe to learn and
have the adequate infrastructure and facilities to do so, but our research has found that this
is not the reality for many learners in the country.”
The report details how the education system continues to be dogged by stark inequalities
and chronic underperformance that have deep roots in the legacy of apartheid, but which
are also not being effectively tackled by the current government.
For example, it brings to the fore that many schools and the communities they serve
continue to live with the consequences of the political and economic decisions made during
the apartheid era where people were segregated according to their skin colour, with schools
serving white communities properly resourced. The result of this modern-day South Africa is
that a child’s experience of education still very much depends on where they are born, how
wealthy they are, and the colour of their skin.
As the President prepares to deliver the State of the National Address this week, the critical
question is: why is it that a child’s experience of education in South Africa still depends very
much on where they are born, how wealthy they are, and the colour of their skin?
While the report acknowledges that there has been progress made since the end of
apartheid on widening access to education as well as other aspects, it has identified
weaknesses by the Department of Basic Education, such as repeatedly failing to reach its
own targets with respect to infrastructure and facilities.
In these circumstances it is not surprising that educational outcomes remain relatively poor.
For example, a recent international survey found that more than three quarters of children
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,aged nine cannot read for meaning. In some provinces this is as high as 91% in Limpopo and
85% in the Eastern Cape. And of 100 learners that start school, 50-60 will make it to matric,
40-50 will pass matric, and only 14 will go to university.
“South Africa has one of the most unequal school systems in the world. Children in the top
200 schools achieve more distinctions in mathematics than children in the next 6,600
schools combined. The playing field must be leveled.”
Broken promises
In 2013, the government enacted the Minimum Norms and Standards for educational
facilities, requiring the government to ensure that by November 2016, all schools have
access to sanitation and electricity and that all pit latrines are replaced with safe and
adequate sanitation and schools built from inappropriate materials, such as mud and
asbestos are replaced. Yet as the government’s own statistics show, these targets have not
been met.
As the government continues to miss its own targets to improve learning facilities, Amnesty
International’s research in Gauteng and the Eastern Cape found numerous examples of
schools with poor infrastructure and lacking basic facilities.
These included badly maintained buildings that had never been renovated, many of them
dating back decades to the apartheid era and even previously. The buildings were
hazardous, built with dangerous material such as asbestos and poorly maintained, in some
cases putting the safety and security of learners at risk. The buildings were also unhygienic,
poorly maintained and in some cases unsafe. Schools that were visited by Amnesty
International had overcrowded classrooms without basic equipment and materials such as
furniture and textbooks, with lack of security exacerbating the problems of vandalism and
burglary.
One of the key infrastructure issues is poor sanitation which compromises not just learners’
education but also their health, privacy and dignity. Amnesty International researchers
found numerous examples of badly maintained, broken or unsanitary toilets, including pit
latrines. Students who were interviewed by the organisation in Gauteng raised it as a
particular concern, saying that in many cases toilets were “dirty” and “unhealthy”. In the
Eastern Cape, issues of concern included lack of sufficient toilets for the number of pupils in
line with the learner to toilet ratio of 1:30; lack of an adequate and/or reliable water supply
often requiring use of a borehole; poor hygiene with associated health problems among
learners; leaking septic tanks; broken sanitation infrastructure that could not be repaired
owing to lack of funds and an inability to remedy vandalism or theft in sanitation facilities.
“The fact that the Limpopo Department of Education says that it will take an estimated 14
years to replace all pit latrines in the province’s public schools is shocking. Given the recent
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,deaths, it is unacceptable that the government cannot guarantee that more children won’t
die this year or any coming years for that matter,” said Mohamed.
Beyond infrastructure, other barriers that children face to access a quality education include
lack of sufficient transport, which often impacts on not just their ability to access education
but also can put their safety at increased risk.
Some children walk for between 30 minutes and an hour to get to their educational
institution meaning it is likely to be more than 3km. This is despite the fact that the
Department of Transport, in collaboration with the Department of Basic Education, is
required to ensure that transport is provided to grades R to 12 pupils who live more than
3km from the nearest school.
Children in the lowest income groups are also more likely to walk to school than those in the
highest income group. In KwaZulu-Natal alone, where more learners walk to school than in
any other province, more than 210,000 pupils walk for more than an hour each way, and
659,000 walk for between 30 minutes and an hour each way.
When they do get to school, students are often being taught in overcrowded classes
impacting on their ability to learn effectively. For example, Amnesty International saw many
cases of teacher learning ratios exceeding the stipulated ratio of 1:35 increasing to double
this figure in one case.
Amnesty International visited numerous schools that had insufficient resources to meet the
requirements for a decent education and this is borne out by the Department of Basic
Education’s own statistics.
According to the Department’s own statistics for 2018, out of 23,471 public schools, 20,071
have no laboratory. Furthermore, 18,019 have no library, while 16,897 have no internet.
Almost 1,000 schools have no sports facilities, while 4,358 have only illegal plain pit latrines
for sanitation; 1,027 have no perimeter fencing, essential for teacher and pupil safety, while
239 have no electricity, and 37 have no sanitation facilities at all.
In its recommendations, Amnesty International calls for the review and reform of how the
education budget is distributed in order to achieve quality education for all and to combat
entrenched inequality in the system.
“The repeated failure of government to address the issues is not only a question of
accountability, it has consequences for the life chances of thousands of young people and
the future of this country,” said Shenilla Mohamed.
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,Background
While the report highlights that South Africa has made significant progress on ensuring the
right to education for pupils since the end of apartheid, it has found that access has
widened to the point where there is almost universal participation although the numbers of
pupils dropping out before completing their basic education. However, in certain key areas
as this report highlights, the post-1994 government has failed to meet its own domestic and
international legal obligations. Too many schools suffer from poor infrastructure
compromising the quality of education available for learners. Amnesty International
conducted field research in the Eastern Cape and Gauteng provinces between November
2017 and June 2019 as well as extensive desk research including analysis of publicly
available statistical data.
Amnesty International South Africa also undertook a joint survey with the National
Association of School Governing Bodies (NASGB) in three provinces – Gauteng, the Eastern
Cape and Limpopo. This involved 27 questions covering issues such as governance and the
role of school governing bodies (SGBs); infrastructure; funding; teaching; safety and
security; and transportation. The questionnaire was sent to 101 NASGB representatives
covering schools in their respective local area in the three provinces.
Amnesty International. (2020, February 18). South Africa: Broken and unequal education
perpetuating poverty and inequality. Retrieved from
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/02/south-africa-broken-and-unequal-
education-perpetuating-poverty-and-inequality/.
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, 2. QUESTION 1:
The above article has implications on teachers’ professionalism. Discuss these implications
with reference to the following:
(a) Teachers’ ethical convictions in supporting learners.
(b) Teachers’ knowledge
(c) Teachers’ working relationships within and beyond the classroom.
Your discussion should be at most 750 words.
[54 MARKS]
I. Introduction:
Teachers play a crucial role in the education system, and the article "South Africa: Broken
and unequal education perpetuating poverty and inequality" has significant implications for
teachers' professionalism. In this discussion, we will explore the implications on teachers'
ethical convictions in supporting learners, their knowledge, and their working relationships
within and beyond the classroom.
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