South Africans interviewed in a survey on education had some disagreeable things to say, with about two-thirds of respondents agreeing education is in crisis and standards are falling.
The telephone survey, released on Thursday, was conducted by Research Surveys, and sampled 500 adults in metropolitan areas with access to a fixed-line telephone at the beginning of January this year.
Asked to agree or disagree with the statement that education in South Africa is in crisis, 62% agreed, 33% disagreed and 4% did not know.
Given the statement that the standard of education is falling in South Africa, 61% agreed, 34% disagreed and 5% did not know.
The survey company suggests a reason for these impressions could be found in the majority view that government has changed direction too often, with 76% agreeing the government has changed its education policy too often in the past decade. Fourteen percent disagreed and 9% did not know.
Asked if schools are better today than 10 years ago, 48% agreed, 46% disagreed and 6% did not know.
Because of the country’s past, responses were expected to differ for various population groups.
”This does apply here, but there are perhaps surprising levels of agreement across different race groups on a few of these issues, surprising in the light of the appalling state of the education system under apartheid,” said Research Surveys in a statement.
Responses were very similar across race groups for the view that the government’s policy shifts in education are too frequent.
However, differences did occur for the feeling that education is in crisis, with 51% of blacks agreeing, 66% of Indians and whites, and 75% of coloureds.
Three-quarters of those in Cape Town felt that education in the Western Cape is in a ”particular crisis”.
On the question of the standard of education falling, three out of four Indians, whites and coloureds felt this was the case, compared with only four out of 10 blacks.
Among black respondents, 77% felt that schools are better than 10 years ago, compared with 38% of Indians and coloureds and only 25% of whites.
Asked whether government ministers should be forced to send their children to government schools, 54% of respondents agreed, 42% disagreed and 4% did not know.
This view was held by two out of three Indians and coloureds, and about half the blacks and whites.
Secondly, by a two-to-one ratio, people voted to send their own children to a private school, with 64% agreeing and 32% disagreeing.
This was the majority view of all race groups, especially coloureds and whites — seven out of 10 coloureds and whites voted this way, compared with 55% of blacks and Indians.
Alarmingly, people did not place much value on a matric certificate, with 76% agreeing that matriculating does not help securing a job, 20% disagreeing and 3% not knowing. — Sapa