Understanding primary school performance in Southern Africa (SACMEQ) Nicholas Spaull nicspaull.com/research
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Background: Data
SACMEQ Southern and Eastern African Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality 14 participating countries SACMEQ II (2000), SACMEQ III (2007) Background survey Testing : o Gr 6 Numeracy o Gr 6 Literacy o HIV/AIDS Health knowledge
SACMEQ: South Africa 9071 Grade 6 students 1163 Grade 6 teachers 392 primary schools
Distribution of student performance
SA in regional context
WCA
LIM
Looking specifically at South Africa
South Africa: Socioeconomic breakdown
SA Bimodality – fact, no longer theory Language PIRLS Gr 5 (Shepherd, 2011)
.001
.015 .01 .005
.002
Density
.003
.004
.02
.005
.025
Ex-Department NSES Gr 4 (Taylor, 2011)
0
0
Two education systems not one 0
400 reading test score
20
800
40 60 Numeracy score 2008
Ex-DET/Homelands schools
English/Afrikaans schools
80
100
Historically white schools
0
Socioeconomic status SACMEQ Gr 6 (Spaull, 2011)
.0 04
.0 06
.0 08
African language schools
600
.0 02
200
D en sity
0
0
200
400 600 Learner Reading Score
800
Poorest 25%
Second poorest 25%
Second wealthiest 25%
Wealthiest 25%
1000
Regional comparisons
SA in regional context Public Current expenditure on Country
Total population Adult literacy (mil)
rate
Net Enrolment Rate (2008)
GNP/cap PPP primary education per pupil (unit US$ (2008)
cost) 2007 – [PPP constant 2006 US$]
Survival rate to Grade 5: school year ending 2007
Botswana
1.92
83%
87%
13100
1228
89%3
Mozambique
22.38
54%
80%
770
792
60%
Namibia
2.13
88%
89%
6270
668
87%3
South Africa
49.67
89%
87%
9780
1225
98%
(UNESCO, 2011)
(UNESCO, 2011)
(UNESCO, 2011)
(UNESCO, 2011)
(UIS, 2009)
(UNESCO, 2011)
Source
SACMEQ III (2007)
Self-reported teacher absenteeism
Proportion of Grade 6 students functionally illiterate
Proportion of Grade 6 students functionally innumerate
Proportion of students Proportion of students with own reading with own mathematics textbook textbook
Botswana
10.6 days
10.62%
22.48%
63%
62%
Mozambique
6.4 days
21.51%
32.73%
53%
52%
Namibia
9.4 days
13.63%
47.69%
32%
32%
South Africa
19.4 days
27.26%
40.17%
45%
36%
Textbooks
Resources the issue? More reading textbooks
More maths textbooks
Questions, conclusions & recommendations
Questions
1.
How is it possible that more Mozambican students have access to their own textbooks than SA students, and this when SA spends 15 times as much per child than Mozambique? (workbook delivery?)
2.
How is possible that Limpopo performs worse than all 40 other provinces in SA/Namibia/Botswana/Mozambique?
3.
Why is it acceptable in South Africa for teachers to be absent (unjustifiably) for an entire month?
4.
Do we really know what is wrong with our system? If so, why has it taken so long to fix it? •
LOLT? Unions? Teacher training?
Conclusions • Speaking of a single education system in SA is a misnomer – the average South African student does not exist in any meaningful sense. Bimodality is a fact.
• South Africa is not able to convert material advantage into cognitive skills
Low quality education Low social mobility
Hereditary poverty
Highly inefficient
• While the survey was conducted in 2007, and things may have changed, the outcomes certainly haven’t (see ANA’s, 2011; and (?) PIRLS/TIMSS 2012) More of the same?
Serious blight on the national conscience
Persistent patterns of poverty and privilege
Recommendations
1. Acknowledge the extent of the problem • Low quality education is one of the three largest crises facing our country (along with HIV/AIDS and unemployment)
2. Experiment to figure out what works • More of the same hasn’t worked Need to try new things and rigorously evaluate them to see what works. – Workbooks & ANA’s are a positive sign – Failed programmes provide useful information when acknowledged & disseminated.
3. Increase accountability, information & transparency • Where is the money going? • Deal ruthlessly with corruption – this is a social crime. • For at least one grade (Gr6?) get ANA externally validated by an independent body like Umalusi and get this information to parents need to empower parents with information in an accessible format
Thank you www.nicspaull.com/research
[email protected] @NicSpaull
