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FM AMEMBASSY PRETORIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7237
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEHTN/AMCONSUL CAPE TOWN 6522
RUEHDU/AMCONSUL DURBAN 0646
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PRETORIA 000213 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON SF
SUBJECT: SOUTH AFRICA FOCUSES ON EDUCATIONAL ACCESS, NOT 
QUALITY 
 
PRETORIA 00000213  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
THIS CABLE IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED AND NOT INTENDED FOR 
INTERNET DISTRIBUTION. 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY.  Government policy since 1994 has sought to 
ensure that all population groups in South Africa have equal 
access to education.  However, the quality of education has 
been neglected, leaving many learners unqualified for 
university or to join South Africa's workforce, which needs 
skilled labor.  A "pro-poor" education policy targeting 
children from underprivileged backgrounds might help to 
redress the country's extreme socioeconomic inequalities. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
------------------------------------- 
SAG COMMITTED TO UNIVERSAL ENROLLMENT 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) University of Witwatersrand Education Policy Analyst 
Shireen Motala spoke about meaningful access to education in 
South Africa at the Institute of Justice and Reconciliation's 
launch of its 2008 Transformation Audit on 15 January. 
Motala pointed out that post-apartheid legislation is proof 
that South Africa is committed to education for all.  South 
Africa, unlike many other developing countries, provides near 
universal access to basic education, albeit in a system of 
racial inequity and poor quality.  The SAG's focus since 
1994, she said, has been to ensure equitable access to 
education, which is in line with South Africa's Bill of 
Rights and which is intended to redress racial inequalities. 
Age-specific enrollment rates for 6-15 year olds in South 
Africa is over 95 percent, with just under 2 percent never 
entering school.  Most learners stay in school through the 
end of primary school, with 88 percent of learners finishing 
grade 7 in 2003.  The drop out rate in grade 11 is estimated 
about 30 percent, and by age 19 it is around 50 percent. 
(NOTE: Under apartheid, significant numbers of children 
received schooling, especially in primary grades, but schools 
for blacks were consistently underresourced.  In the 1980s, 
however, there was a considerable expansion of secondary 
schools for black learners.  END NOTE) 
 
¶3. (U) The SAG has also dramatically increased funding to 
education.  The SAG's educational expenditure increased from 
R31.1 billion (US 3 billion) in 1995, to R59.6 billion 
(almost US 6 billion) in 2002, to R105 billion in 2006/07 (US 
10 billion), and is expected to increase to R127 billion 
(almost US 13 billion) by 2010.  In real terms, education 
expenditure amounted to 19.9% of consolidated national and 
provincial expenditures.  Expenditure on national education 
represented 5.4% of GDP in 2006/07, and is expected to be 
5.3% in 2009. 
 
---------------- 
BUT TO WHAT END? 
---------------- 
 
¶4. (U) Despite the increase in government spending under the 
ANC, historic backlogs, lack of qualified teachers, and the 
effects of inflation on education have all diminished the 
impact, as evidenced by the following: 
 
-- Between 1990 and 1994, 33.2% (or 271,098) of grade 12 
students passed; in 2008, this number only reached 37.4% (or 
368,217). 
 
-- Between 1990 and 1994, the average number of years of 
schooling completed in the 20 to 24 year old cohort was 
9.66%; in 2008, this number only grew to 10.27%. 
 
-- Many learners in South Africa continue to manage with 
limited textbooks, poorly stocked libraries, sub-standard 
infrastructure, and poorly trained educators.  (NOTE: In an 
attempt to racially transform the teaching profession in the 
1990s, many teachers in previously advantaged schools were 
Q1990s, many teachers in previously advantaged schools were 
given the option to teach at previously disadvantaged schools 
or apply for early retirement resulting in large numbers of 
highly qualified teachers leaving the profession.  END NOTE) 
 
-- South African learners, especially in rural areas and 
townships, are not competitive in comparison with 
international levels of achievement, with South Africans 
faring poorly in relation to regional counterparts in Malawi 
and Botswana. 
 
-- Many learners are unable to read and write adequately and 
 
PRETORIA 00000213  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
their teachers are unable to properly teach them; South 
Africa's Department of Education evaluation of grade 6 
learners in 2005 obtained a mean score of 38% in the language 
of learning and teaching, 27 % in math, and 41% in natural 
sciences. 
 
Moreover, with uneven capacity among provinces to budget or 
adequately spend government funds, the quality of public 
schooling varies dramatically and tends to be better in 
wealthier areas where schools are able to raise substantial 
amounts of private donations and hire additional teachers, 
reduce the teacher/student ratio, and ultimately act as a 
barrier to poorer families while reinforcing the imbalance in 
quality. 
 
¶5. (U) Motala argued that achieving the Millennium 
Development Goal of universal enrollment, while significant, 
is a one-dimensional goal; meaningful access to education 
requires more than physical access to a school, and should 
include high-attendance rates, little or no repetition, and 
learning outcomes that confirm skills are being mastered. 
Moreover, educational access is not only about how many 
learners of school-going age are in school, nor even about 
how many successfully complete their schooling, but rather 
about who has access to what kind of schooling and on what 
basis.  Factors such as poverty, unaffordable school fees, 
low achievement rates, HIV/AIDS, pregnancy, discrimination, 
and poor health and nutrition can easily outweigh simply 
having access to an education, she noted. 
 
------------------- 
CAUSES OF EXCLUSION 
------------------- 
 
¶6. (U) Motala sketched a bleak picture of access patterns in 
South Africa, showing that most learners enroll and complete 
primary education, but late entry into school and relatively 
high repetition rates have a slowing effect on progress 
through the system.  Factors contributing to poor success 
rates can be grouped into two categories:  economic and 
social factors, including indirect cost of education, family 
structure, gender, and HIV/AIDS; and school-related factors 
including racial discrimination, abuse and rape of females by 
male classmates and educators, and teacher unpreparedness. 
Interestingly, there is little evidence that child labor, 
though widespread in South Africa, has been shown to disrupt 
school enrollment, though it may impact performance.  Instead 
Motala believes protracted poverty tends to be the most 
important reason for learners being out of school.  Though 
the ANC hopes to extend free education to 60 percent of 
schools in 2009, indirect costs such as cost of transport, 
uniforms, books and stationery add extra burdens to already 
stretched household budgets.  Motala added that studies have 
shown that the Child Support Grant has a tremendous 
educational benefit, especially in ensuring that learners 
begin Grade 1 at the appropriate age (in 2003, an estimated 
32.8% of households received a government grant based on 
poverty). 
 
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COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Post-apartheid South Africa inherited a 
dysfunctional and racist educational system that had left the 
majority of the population unprepared to participate in a 
modern economy.  While South Africa has taken great strides 
toward reaching universal learner access, it has yet to 
eliminate the drastic racial inequalities in the education 
system, with children from disadvantaged backgrounds being 
sent to schools with weak instructors, poor infrastructure, 
and inadequate financing.  The direct result is seen in South 
Qand inadequate financing.  The direct result is seen in South 
Africa's chronic unemployment problem, caused by the mismatch 
between a poorly-educated workforce and the needs of a 
capital- and skills-intensive company. 
BALL