The Review of the Financing, Resourcing and Costs of Education in Public Schools represents two months of intensive research and analysis by departmental officials into the structure of state funding and the costs of education that are so often compromising the child’s basic right to an education. It was motivated by concerns of Minister of Education Kader Asmal that the system was failing, especially the poorest. The effort is certainly also a worthwhile response to other voices of concern, particulary that of the Education Rights Project, which has been steadily identifying communities whose rights to an education are compromised, mainly because of poverty.
The encouraging part of the effort is the real attempt to put the issues of education where they have to be: slap bang in wider society. The review pays great attention to issues ranging from the costs of school uniforms, the importance of formalising some kind of transportation system for schoolgoers, and the plain fact that trying to feed a kid’s mind is not going to be successful if their stomachs are empty — hence the need for a comprehensive feeding scheme (see page 2 for more).
It follows that government departments with other areas of responsibility are going to have to join the party, too, to address these complex issues — from the Department of Social Development to the Department of Transport and the Department of Public Works. It is possible that the Department of Education could assume centre stage in the government’s efforts to uplift the deprived and truly make inroads in our society’s transformation — if the observations recorded in the review can actually galvanise the cogs of the State into action.
The review has brought the issues around the provision of free, quality education out from the vague realms of the anecdotal and into the sharp focus of rigorous research. As such, they have finally been officially articulated — and best of all, by the very people whose responsibility it is to address these issues.
What remains to be seen, of course, is if — and when — these numerous pitfalls are tackled. The report is open for public comment until April 21, and the further processes that follow suggest that little concrete will be achieved until next year at the earliest. For now, though, I will be optimistic — if only because Asmal’s speech at the launch of the review was peppered with words such as ‘determined”, ‘purposefully” and ‘urgency”. If said with sincerity, these words are a great comfort.