“Access and opportunity” - Schooling in Khayelitsha, an introduction Jonathan Clark, Schools Development Unit/ Schools Improvement Initiative, UCT

KHAYELITSHA

33 Demographics History THE CONTEXT First houses in 1983, rapid expansion through 1990s, slow down in growth over past five years 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 learners 642 learners Low fee private schools are NOT as yet a feature of this educational landscape…

77 Additional odd learners in community creches

88

99 Additional odd learners in community creches

10 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 ⅔ rds attend neighborhood schools

11 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 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

12 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

13 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?

14 Public ordinary & Grade R: Private & LSEN: Out-of-township: ‘in-school’ Summing up….

15 Compulsory (Grade R-9): Out-of-school: max ‘A puzzle…’ Census 2011 Estimated number of children in 7-15 age group in ? 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 Wrote2014 Passed2014 B- degrees 60% + for Maths & Physical sciences in (75,0%) 622 (22,6%) 50 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 %) 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’