The many and varied links between student socioeconomic status and educational outcomes have
been well documented in the South African economics of education literature. The strong legacy of
apartheid and the consequent correlation between education and wealth have meant that, generally
speaking, poorer learners perform worse academically. The links between affluence and educational
quality in South Africa can partially explain this outcome since the poor receive a far inferior quality
of education when compared to their wealthier counterparts. This disadvantages them in the labourmarket
and entrenches their poverty. This thesis uses the recent Southern and Eastern African
Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality (SACMEQ III) dataset for South Africa to
answer three important questions: (1) Is South African primary education efficient? (2) Is South
African primary education equitable? and (3) What are the main factors that have a significant
effect on student mathematics and reading performance in Grade 6. The thesis shows that a
high proportion of the country’s learners are functionally illiterate and functionally innumerate. The
research confirms previous findings that socio-economic status, and particularly school
socioeconomic status, is important when understanding student success or failure. Other factors
which significantly affect student performance are homework frequency, grade repetition, and
the availability of reading textbooks. In contrast, teacher-subject knowledge was found to have
only a modest impact on Grade 6 performance. Policy interventions associated with the findings are
also highlighted. The study concludes that South Africa is still a tale of two school sub-systems: one
which is wealthy, functional and able to educate students, while the other is poor, dysfunctional,
and unable to equip students with the necessary numeracy and literacy skills they should be
acquiring in primary school. Finally, the thesis suggests that there are some options available
to policy-makers which are expected to have a positive effect on learner performance.