The very low value for money provided by the South African schooling system has
become well known in the 15 years since the fall of apartheid. Unfortunately, how to
improve the quality of schooling is far less clear, despite the activities of NGOs and
donors, both international and local, directed toward this end for well over two decades,
and of government since 1994. The starting assumption of the present paper is that
weaknesses at every level of the system – classroom, school and administrative structure
– contribute to the crisis in schooling. The purpose of the paper is to identify the key
problems which occur at each of these levels, as a prerequisite for designing more
effective school improvement interventions.
The evidence on which this analysis is based varies from strong, generalisable data
derived from representative national surveys, to small scale descriptive studies based on a
handful of classrooms. Much of the data, therefore, despite the ring of authenticity it may
have for anyone who has spent time in South African schools and classrooms, requires
verification before it can serve as the basis for a firm national picture. Nevertheless, it
illustrates the range of considerations which need to go into the design of any reform
effort.