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ACCOUNTABILITY IN SOUTH AFRICAN SCHOOLING

ACCOUNTABILITY IN SOUTH AFRICAN SCHOOLING. General propositions. South African schooling is driven largely by supply-side measures Since 1994 government has made great strides in equalising public inputs to schools

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ACCOUNTABILITY IN SOUTH AFRICAN SCHOOLING

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  1. ACCOUNTABILITYIN SOUTH AFRICANSCHOOLING

  2. General propositions • South African schooling is driven largely by supply-side measures • Since 1994 government has made great strides in equalising public inputs to schools • On the accountability side government makes few demands on its officials, principals and teachers

  3. General propositions (contd) • While little is known about actual performance what evidence exists indicates that little learning is happening in the early years • Where direct measures of performance do exist, these are often not well constructed • In addition the debate on indicators is in a crude stage of development • Hence the application of indicators can lead to system deformation

  4. Indicators of sytemic quality Inputs • Funding Processes • Performance management Outputs • Participation of girls • Throughput rates • Senior Certificate results • Systemic assessment

  5. Inputs: School and overall social spending

  6. Processes: performance management • Standoff with the teacher unions has delayed the establishment of any system for 10 years • This is a legacy of apartheid, where school inspection was seen as part of government surveillance • In 2003 an accord was signed between DoE and unions • However, this will require a long period of development before it can have any effect on quality of schooling

  7. Number of Male and Female Learners by Grade, 2000

  8. Flow through rates by race 1982-1993

  9. Flow through rates 1993, 1997 and 2001

  10. Senior Certificate results 1994-2002

  11. Senior Certificate exemptions

  12. Math Senior Certificate results

  13. Systemic assessment: Government • Policy promulgated in 1998 for periodic sample testing in grades 3, 6 and 9 • A pilot was conducted in 2001, but the report was delayed for 18 months • When it was finally released at beginning of 2003 it raised more questions than it answered • WC province began administering grade 3 and 6 literacy and numeracy tests in 2002, and plans to repeat these every 2 years

  14. Systemic assessment: Non-Government • TIMSS: 38 countries, including SA at grade 8 in 1998 • Monitoring Learning Achievement: 14 Southern African countries, including SA involved in 1995 (grade 4) and 2003 (grade 6)

  15. South Africa performance on Grade 4 MLA numeracy test

  16. Systemic assessment: Non-Government JET literacy and numeracy tests for grade 3 and 6 • Commenced in 1999 • Motivated by donor need to establish baselines and track progress in school reform programmes • To date administered in over 1000 schools in 5 languages in 7 provinces • Provided the model for the WC provincial tests

  17. Conclusion: SA • What few output indicators exist show the SA school system in a poor state of health • This will not improve without greater demand from stakeholders for information • The greatest inhibitor to developing a climate of accountability is lack of government leadership • Not clear whether government tardiness is due to lack of capacity, or ideological distaste for output measures, probably both

  18. Conclusion: Role of Ngo sector • Provide workable models for collecting and using information: eg test now in use in WC • Which information? • Balanced picture so as not to distort system need info in Inputs, Process, and Outputs • Within each of these categories need balance eg on Outputs need info on eg Quantity, Quality and Efficiency • Balance sophistication vs ease of collection and ease of public understanding

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