Since apartheid ended in 1994, there have been substantial changes in South African education. Millions of students’ access to and quality of education is impacted by the many issues that still exist in the system despite efforts to change it.
VOC News spoke to education activist Hendrick Makenata to determine his views on education and the quality of education offered to South African learners
“If you look at the trends in international Mathematics and Science, South Africa is always ranked at the bottom as we do not have the resources to educate our children and this highlights that more needs to be done to better the quality of education received,” he added.
Meanwhile community activist Imran Mukadam stressed that there are several challenges such as high dropout rates and infrastructure and resource challenges that affects the quality of education in the country, more so in the Western Cape.
“Too many young children are dropping out of schools due to social ills. There are also no alternatives for these children, which makes it difficult for them to be reintegrated into any learning institutions. The massive issue is over crowdedness, which makes it difficult for teachers to prioritise learners at risk, which leave struggling learners to their own devices, which leads to a high dropout rate,” he stressed
Listen to full audio below:
