Apartheid officially ended almost two decades ago, yet South Africa remains one of the most unequal societies in the world. Equal Education seeks to help address that inequality by advocating for more quality and equitable education for all South Africans. While engagement at the policy level is crucial in a country built upon institutionalized inequality, youth voices on the ground - from those drectly affected by those policies - must be heard.

 

Although South Africa spends 19% of its annual budget on education, high school students from Khayelitsha - as well as rural and other informal township areas - face an uphill battle to achieve better futures through education. There are two distinct education systems in South Africa: 25% of students attend well-functioning schools with sufficient textbooks, qualified teachers, and adequate facilities; the other 75% lack sufficient textbooks, face high levels of teacher absenteeism and inadequate facilities in their schools, and experience high dropout and repetition rates.

 

In privileged, historically-white areas of Cape Town like Rondebosch, 40% of students performed in the top quintile (80-100%) in math from 2008-2011. In Khayelitsha, almost 70% of students performed below 30% in math over that same time period. Comparing SACMEQ test results, the wealthiest 25% of students averaged above 600 based on 6th-grade reading scores; the remaining 75% of students averaged around 400.

 

Education should be the ultimate equalizer in an unequal society. The South African education system is failing that promise. Equal Education and Amazwi Wethu [Our Voices] seek to empower students to advocate for the education they are entitled to.