Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Accessing Quality Education in Gauteng: Intersecting Scales of Geography, Educational Policy and Inequality

Urban Forum volume 32, pages 141–163 (2021)Cite this article

Abstract

In May 2016, the South African Constitutional Court ruled unconstitutional the long-term use of default school feeder zones (with a 5 km radius) to govern school admissions in Gauteng province. The ruling drew on an amicus curiae application which argued that the default feeder zones were constitutionally invalid: in the context of a profoundly unequal education system where geography and educational quality are tightly linked, they replicate spatial apartheid and perpetuate racial exclusion. The case highlights the tension between individual schools’ incentives to preserve educational quality through limiting and controlling admissions, and the Gauteng Department of Education’s mandate to ensure universal, equitable access to education for all. The competing incentives of government, schools and parents mean that multiple scales of educational governance intersect at individual schools, and in school admissions policies. As one of the UN’s 2015 Sustainable Development Goals is to ensure universal access to high-quality education, these tensions between scales of educational governance are under increasing scrutiny globally. This paper explores the distinctions and relationship between access to education and access to quality education through the case study of Gauteng, South Africa. We map a range of school-level variables to illustrate the challenges that geography poses to achieving equitable educational access and unpack how, in the context of policy that intends to univeralise access to education, physical location (of schools and children) and scale continue to shape the education that children can access.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8

Data Availability

Gauteng School Master List, available online at https://www.education.gov.za/Programmes/EMIS/EMISDownloads.aspx. GDE Situational Analysis survey data (2003, 2016). Data available on request from Gauteng Department of Education.

Code Availability.

The analysis was not based on a custom code. The analysis was done with Microsoft Excel and ESRI ArcGIS software.

Notes

  1. The South African Department of Education uses the term learners to refer to children attending school.

  2. The Court required the GDE to determine feeder zones for public schools within 12 months. In May 2017, the GDE was given an extension until June 2018 to complete this process. After a participatory process, the draft amendments to the Regulations on school admissions were released for public comment in August 2018. By November 2018, the GDE had determined feeder zones for 2067 ordinary public schools, although they remain primarily geographic.

  3. Recent data from the Gauteng city-region supports this connection. Approximately 74% of the top 1% of residents in Gauteng in terms of income have a higher education qualification in comparison to only 20% of the other 99% of income earners (Götz et al. 2017).

  4. SASA provides that indigent parents or those with limited income can apply for school fee reduction based on demonstrated need, enabling poorer students to attend fee-paying schools.

  5. Refers to the high-school completion certificate that a learner obtains at the end of grade 12, also known as the matric pass rate. NSC pass levels are widely used as a proxy for school performance, despite the limitations of this measure.

  6. Racial diversity is measured through the entropy score per school. The entropy score increases if learners attending the school are from a greater mix of different population groups and decreases when learners from one population group dominate the school population (Parry and van Eeden 2015).

  7. The categories are 0–5 km, 6–10 km, 11–15 km, 16–20 km, 20–25 km and over 25 km.

References

  • Alves, F., Elacqua, G., Koslinki, M., Martinez, M., Santos, H., & Urbina, D. (2015). Winners and losers of school choice: Evidence from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Santiago, Chile. International Journal of Educational Development, 41, 25–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bourdieu, P. (1998). The State Nobility: Elite Schools in the Field of Power. . Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Branson, N., Lam, D. (2017). The impact of the no-fee school policy on enrolment and school performance: evidence from NIDS Waves 1–3. A Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit Working Paper Number 197. SALDRU, University of Cape Town https://opensaldru.uct.ac.za/bitstream/handle/11090/856/2017_197_Saldruwp.pdf?sequence=1. Accessed 29 Jan 2019.

  • Broberg, A., & Sarjala, S. (2015). School travel mode choice and the characteristics of the urban built environment: the case of Helsinki, Finland. Transport policy, 37, 1–10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chabalala, J. (2021). In numbers: matric 2020 national pass rate drops to 76.2%. News24, 22 February 2021. https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/in-numbers-matric-2020-national-pass-rate-drops-to-762-20210222. Accessed 13 April 2021.

  • Chipuer, H. M. (2001). Dyadic attachments and community connectedness: links with youths’ loneliness experiences. Journal of Community Psychology, 29(4), 429–446.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chisholm, L. (Ed.). (2004). Changing Class: education and social change in post-apartheid South Africa. HSRC Press.

  • Coetzee, M. (2014). School quality and the performance of disadvantaged learners in South Africa. Stellenbosch University Economics Department Working Paper, 22, 14. https://ideas.repec.org/p/sza/wpaper/wpapers227.html. Accessed 13 April 2021.

  • Cullen, J. B., Jacob, B. A., & Levitt, S. D. (2005). The impact of school choice on student outcomes: an analysis of the Chicago Public Schools. Journal of Public Economics, 89, 729–760.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Department of Basic Education. (2019). School Masterlist data, quarter 4, 2019. Available online at: https://www.education.gov.za/Programmes/EMIS/EMISDownloads.aspx. Accessed 13 April 2021.

  • Department of Education. (1998). Admission Policy for Ordinary Public Schools, Notice no. 2432 of 1998, GG 19377 (19 Oct 1998). https://www.education.gov.za/Portals/0/Admission%20Policy%20for%20ordinary%20public%20schools%20(Notice%202432%20of%201998).pdf?ver=2009-10-13-135307-413. Accessed 12 April 2021.

  • Department of Education. (2006). Amended national norms and standards for school funding. Available online at: https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201409/29179.pdf. Accessed 30 Jan 2019.

  • Equal Education. (2016). Equal Education’s Heads of argument in the matter between Federation of Governing Bodies of Schools and Member of the Executive Council and Head of Department, Education, Gauteng and Equal Education. https://eelawcentre.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/EE-Submissions-Final.pdf. Accessed 21 Jan 2019.

  • Federation of Governing Bodies for South African Schools (FEDSAS) v Member of the Executive Council for Education, Gauteng and Another (CCT 209/15) [2016] ZACC 14; 2016 (4) SA 546 (CC); 2016 (8) BCLR 1050 (CC) (20 May 2016). http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZACC/2016/14.html. Accessed 12 April 2021.

  • Fiske, E. B., Ladd, H. F.(2004). Elusive equity: education reform in post-apartheid South Africa. Brookings Institution Press.

  • Gauteng Department of Education. (2001). Regulations for the Admission of Learners to Public Schools, Provincial Gazette 129, General Notice 4138 of 2001.

  • Gauteng Department of Education. (2016). Situational Analysis survey data from 2003 and 2016. Data available on request.

  • Gauteng Department of Education. (2016). National Senior Certificate pass rates per school. Data available on request.

  • Gauteng Provincial Government. (2012). General Notice 1160. Provincial Gazette Extraordinary 127 (18), 9 May 2012.

  • Gibbons, S., & Machin, S. (2003). Valuing English primary schools. Journal of urban economics, 53(2), 197–219.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Götz, G., Joseph, K., & Siteleki, M. (2017). The 1%. GCRO Vignette #33. Gauteng City-Region Observatory. https://cdn.gcro.ac.za/media/documents/Vignette_33_The_1.pdf. Accessed 13 April 2021.

  • Hamann, C. (2016). Tertiary education qualifications and median household income in Gauteng, GCRO Map of the Month, April 2016. https://www.gcro.ac.za/outputs/map-of-the-month/detail/tertiary-education-qualifications-and-median-household-income-in-gauteng/. Accessed 13 April 2021.

  • Hannum, E., & Wang, M. (2006). Geography and educational inequality in China. China Economic Review, 17(3), 253–265.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harris, R., Johnston, R., & Burgess, S. (2016). Tangled spaghetti: modelling the core catchment areas of London’s secondary schools. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 48(9), 1681–1683. https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518X15603987.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hastings, J., Kane, T. J. & Staiger, D. O. (2009) Heterogeneous preferences and the efficacy of public school choice. NBER Working Paper. https://www.povertyactionlab.org/sites/default/files/publications/840%20Heterogeneous%20Preferences%20May%202009.pdf. Accessed 24 Jan 2019.

  • Hatfield, J. W., Kojima, F., & Narita, Y. (2016). Improving schools through school choice: A market design approach. Journal of Economic Theory, 166, 186–211.

  • Hochschild, J., & Scovronick, N. (2003). The American dream and the public schools. Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hoxby, C. M. (2013). School choice and school competition: evidence from the United States. Swedish Economic Policy Review, 10, 11–67.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hunter, M. (2010). Racial desegregation and schooling in South Africa: contested geographies of class formation. Environment and Planning A, 42, 2640–2657.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hunter, M. (2016). The race for education: Class, white tone and schooling in South Africa. Journal of Historical Sociology, 29(3), 319–358.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hunter, M. (2016b). Market forces propel schools’ racism. The Con, 6 September 2016. Retrieved from http://www.theconmag.co.za/2016/09/06/market-forces-propel-schools-racism/. Accessed 13 April 2021.

  • Joseph, S. & Carpenter, J. (2017). Scholar Transport in Section 27 (ed.) The Basic Education Rights Handbook  (pp. 274–291). Accessed online http://section27.org.za/basic-education-handbook/. Accessed 13 April 2021.

  • Leech, D., & Campos, E. (2003). Is comprehensive education really free?: a case-study of the effects of secondary school admissions policies on house prices in one local area. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series A (Statistics in Society), 166(1), 135–154.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Machard, D., & McKay, T. (2015). School choice, school costs: the case of inner-city Johannesburg private schools. Acta Academica, 47(2), 139–162.

    Google Scholar 

  • Macupe, B. (2018). ConCourt asked to hear Overvaal case. Mail & Guardian. 09 Feb 2018. https://mg.co.za/article/2018-02-09-00-concourt-asked-to-hear-overvaal-case. Accessed 13 Aug 2018.

  • Mitchell, H., Kearns, R. A., & Collins, D. C. (2007). Nuances of neighbourhood: children’s perceptions of the space between home and school in Auckland, New Zealand. Geoforum, 38(4), 614–627.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moses, E., van der Berg, S. & Rich, K. (2017). A society divided: how unequal education quality limits social mobility in South Africa. Accessed online: http://resep.sun.ac.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/2372-Resep_PSPPD_A-society-divided_WEB.pdf. Accessed 13 April 2021.

  • Msila, V. (2009). School choice and intra-township migration: black parents scrambling for quality education in South Africa. Journal of education, 46, 81–98.

    Google Scholar 

  • Msila, V. (2005). The education exodus: the flight from township schools. Africa Education Review, 2(2), 173–188.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pampallis, J. (2003). Education reform and school choice in South Africa. In D. N. Plank & G. Sykes (Eds.), Choosing choice: school choice in international perspective. (pp. 143–163). Teachers College Press.

  • Parry, K., & van Eeden, A. (2015). Measuring racial residential segregation at different geographic scales in Cape Town and Johannesburg. South African Geographical Journal, 97(1), 31–49.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Plank, D., & Sykes, G. (Eds.). (2003). Choosing choice: school choice in international perspective. . Teachers College Press.

  • Republic of South Africa (1950). Group Areas Act, Act 41 of 1950. Pretoria: Government Printer.

  • Republic of South Africa (1996). The South African Schools Act, Act 84 of 1996. Pretoria: Government Printer.

  • Simons, A., Koekemoer, K., Niekerk, A. V., & Govender, R. (2018). Parental supervision and discomfort with children walking to school in low-income communities in Cape Town. South Africa. Traffic injury prevention, 19(4), 391–398.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Soudien, C. (2004). Constituting the class: an analysis of the process of ‘integration’ in South African schools. In L. Chisholm (Ed.), Changing Class: Education and social change in post-apartheid South Africa HSRC Press.

  • Southall, R.(2016) The new black middle class in South Africa. Boydell & Brewer

  • Statistics South Africa (2011). Census 2011 Municipal report Gauteng. Available online at: http://www.statssa.gov.za/census/census_2011/census_products/GP_Municipal_Repor.pdf. Accessed 13 April 2021.

  • Statistics South Africa (2016). Community Survey 2016. Provincial profile: Gauteng. Available online at: http://cs2016.statssa.gov.za/wpcontent/uploads/2018/07/Gauteng.pdf. Accessed 13 April 2021.

  • StatsSA. (2018). Statistical Release P0318, General Household Survey 2017. http://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0318/P03182017.pdf#%5B%7B%22num%22%3A417%2C%22gen%22%3A0%7D%2C%7B%22name%22%3A%22XYZ%22%7D%2C40%2C751%2C0%5D. Accessed 21 Jan 2019.

  • UN (United Nations) (2020). Sustainable development goals. https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/. Accessed 14 Oct 2020.

  • West, A., Hind, A., & Pennell, H. (2004). School admissions and ‘selection’ in comprehensive schools: policy and practice. Oxford Review of Education, 30(3), 347–369. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305498042000260485.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • West, A., & Ylönen, A. (2010). Market-oriented school reform in England and Finland: school choice, finance and governance. Educational Studies, 36(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/03055690902880307.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Witten, K., McCreanor, T., Kearns, R., & Ramasubramanian, L. (2001). The impacts of a school closure on neighbourhood social cohesion: narratives from Invercargill. New Zealand. Health & Place, 7(4), 307–317.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woolman, S., & Fleisch, B. (2006). South Africa's unintended experiment in school choice: how the National Education Policy Act, the South Africa Schools Act and the Employment of Educators Act create the enabling conditions for quasi-markets in schools. Education and the Law, 18(1), 31–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Gauteng City-Region Observatory, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Alexandra Parker, Christian Hamann & Julia de Kadt

Authors
  1. Alexandra Parker
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Christian Hamann
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Julia de Kadt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alexandra Parker.

Ethics declarations

Competing Interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Parker, A., Hamann, C. & de Kadt, J. Accessing Quality Education in Gauteng: Intersecting Scales of Geography, Educational Policy and Inequality. Urban Forum 32, 141–163 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12132-021-09418-8

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12132-021-09418-8

Keywords

search

Navigation