Government has come a long way with the South African education system since the country’s democratisation in 1994, especially in terms of developing legislation aimed at addressing past imbalances. It has also made great strides in taking education forward with new curricula designed to serve the economy.
However, government has recently publicly admitted that the education system is failing and that it is concerned. Findings of a national study conducted by the South African Human Rights Commission show that the quality of education black and rural children receive is hopelessly inferior compared with that received by pupils in more affluent urban areas.
South Africa has 12-million learners, 366 000 teachers and about 28 000 schools, including 390 special needs schools and 1 000 registered private schools. Of all the schools, 6 000 are high schools (grade seven to grade 12). The grade 12 pass rate remains low, and the illiteracy rate is high at more than 30% of adults over 15 years.
This translates into eight million adults who are not functionally literate.
Even though education is allocated a substantial portion of the country’s total budget, about R75,9-billion during the 2004/05 financial year, and conditional grants amounting to R960,8-million were allocated to the National School Nutrition Programme and the HIV /Aids Programme in that same year, this money must be spread too thinly to have any positive or long-term effect.
Insufficient funding is a considerable challenge facing the education sector in South Africa today. Without money, schools cannot provide learners with the physical, psychological and mental education and training they need to grow into positive contributors to the South African economy.
Without support, education cannot provide an environment conducive to learning. The state of South African education reflects this issue, which is only part of the mishmash of problems that includes poor teacher qualification, social inequalities, poverty and violence, to name a few.
The upshot is that South African education is in need of funding, something that public-private partnerships and corporate social investment can provide. In fact, the success of key national education initiatives relies on partnerships with the private and NGO sectors.
Through public-private partnerships, the skills and assets of each sector are shared to deliver a service or facility for the use of the public. In addition to sharing resources, each party shares in the risks and rewards related to the delivery of the service. In South Africa, projects are under way at national, regional and local level to deliver housing, water, electricity, healthcare and better education. Such partnerships enable improved service at reduced costs. The national treasury’s public-private partnership unit has already facilitated investment in public infrastructure by the private and public sector to the value of R6-billion.
Organisations that enter into public-private partnerships or contribute as much as possible to the improvement of South Africa’s education system through corporate social investment make multi-faceted contributions. They are investing in the country, communities and social upliftment of their own staff. They are also investing in their corporate image as contributors to a better world.
Apart from the Investing in Education winners, companies such as BHP Billiton Development Trust have injected millions of rand into education related projects. BHP Billiton allocates 1% of pre-tax profits to corporate responsibility projects, based on a three-year rolling average. In the financial year that ended in June 2005, this amounted to R66-million, much of which was spent on education initiatives.
The Shuttleworth Foundation is an energetic force in private sector funding, forging partnerships and lending logistical support to companies providing foreign aid. In the education space, the foundation focuses on improving teaching and enhancing the fields of mathematics, science and technology.
At the corporate social investment level, the likes of Bytes Document Solutions, the local Xerox distributor, contributes to improving the education environment through the adoption of several schools. The company supports these schools by improving infrastructure and facilities, training teachers and providing technology where possible.
The value of investing in education through private-public partnerships or corporate social investment cannot be measured in monetary terms. Rather, it must be measured in its effect on South African youth. They will constitute the workforce in the future, fill leadership positions and in turn contribute to the dynamic society of South Africa. It is our responsibility to ensure they are appropriately equipped: socially, mentally and physically.
Zandile Kunene is the executive director of the Matthew Goniwe School of Leadership and Governance