EDITORIAL | To end segregation, how about sending your kid to a township school?

Last year white pupils occupied 62% of the spaces in elite public schools and 55% in private schools, while their black African counterparts occupied 20% and 27% respectively. These percentages were based on pupil enrolments at SA’s top 30 public schools and top 30 private schools, according to their 2021 fee levels. On the other hand, enrolments at all schools across SA, based on the department of basic education’s 2021 annual school survey data, indicated that the average white pupil attended a school that was 68.5% white, 3.3% Indian, 8.5% coloured and 19.6% black. Conversely, the average black pupil attended a school that was 0.9% white, 0.7% Indian, 2.0% coloured and 96.4% black. Former white schools are, on average, the most racially diverse, but they also contribute most to segregation because white and Indian children remain strongly over-represented in these institutions, relative to their numbers in the population.

These were some of the preliminary findings of a study conducted by Rob Gruijters from Cambridge University, Benjamin Elbers, a postdoctoral fellow at Oxford University, and Vijay Reddy, a distinguished research specialist from the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC). The researchers said school segregation along racial and socioeconomic lines in postapartheid SA remains very high and that black African children, in particular, remain highly underrepresented in the country’s best public and private schools, which remain predominantly white. The academics said former white schools continue to be the most prestigious and desirable.

The school run from the suburbs to the townships would certainly be a sight to behold if children traded former Model C and private schools for township institutions. 

Almost 30 years after the advent of democracy, some may find these statistics startling. The crucial question, according to Jonathan Jansen, distinguished professor of education at Stellenbosch University, is why black, Indian and coloured pupils want to get into former white schools. He does not believe this is because the schools were white, but because of a perception of greater functionality and opportunity. Jansen, a social scientist, also disagreed that former white schools continue to be the most prestigious and desirable, saying a number of black schools are desirable because of academic performance and social cohesion. He also posed the question: how do we make schools functional in such a way that they become attractive to both black and white pupils?

Indeed, pupils will be attracted to schools perceived to be the most functional. About 30% of schools in SA fall into that category, according to Reddy. Many are in townships and rural areas, including Menzi High in KwaZulu-Natal and Mbilwi Secondary in Limpopo. Some township schools in Gauteng produced more than 70% bachelor passes in last year’s matric exams.  

The department of basic education needs to be applauded for its excellent pro-poor policies to attract and retain pupils in schools, such as no-fee schools and the national school nutrition programme. Its norms and standards funding also favours pupils attending the poorest schools. Attendance of pupils in the compulsory 7- to 15-year age group is almost 100%. It also spends billions of rand on workbooks for pupils. However, the department and provincial education departments should work much harder at making all schools attractive prospects by fixing dysfunctional ones.

As long as there are still extreme patterns of residential segregation, according to one of the researchers, it will be difficult to achieve integration in schools. But perhaps one small step, which some may argue is simplistic, could be suburban parents encouraging their children to attend functional township schools instead of sending them to expensive former Model C and private schools. The school run from the suburbs to the townships would certainly be a sight to behold.