Department of Public Law

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Browsing Department of Public Law by Author "Adams, Gretchen"

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    The impact of the quintile funding system in reducing apartheid-inherited inequalities in education
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2020-12) Adams, Gretchen; Slade, Bradley V.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Law. Dept. of Public Law.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The apartheid government created a separate and unequal system of schooling for learners based on racist and discriminatory laws. The education system during the apartheid era was characterised by the gross inequality in the funding of education for different races, the segregated curricula and standards of education, and limited access for Black learners to tertiary education This meant that there was an unequal distribution of educational opportunities for learners from different races. This study particularly focusses on the funding inequalities in education for Black and White learners during the apartheid era. During the South African transition to democracy, education became an integral part of the transformation of society along egalitarian lines. In this light, the South African government implemented various laws and policies to regulate the funding of basic education in public schools. One of these policies, and the focus of this study, is the quintile funding system. The quintile funding system attempts to redress the past inequalities in the funding of Black and White schools. This thesis investigates the impact of the quintile funding system on reducing apartheid-inherited inequalities in the education system in South Africa. This study will unpack the inequalities in education that was created by the apartheid government as this forms the basis for the arguments that will be presented by this study. For this study to determine the impact of the quintile funding system, it is necessary to explore the current basic education system in South Africa. This will be done by analysing the right to a basic education as guaranteed by section 29(1)(a) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996. Furthermore, this study will unpack the quintile funding system and analyse the impact of this system on reducing apartheid-inherited inequalities in the education system. This study will determine the impact of the quintile funding system by determining whether the South African government is in compliance with its constitutional and international obligation to provide all learners with economic access to basic education in public schools. It is argued that the quintile funding system has had a major impact on reducing apartheid-inherited inequalities by providing learners with economic access to basic education in public schools, but that the quintile funding system cannot on its own, achieve the aim of establishing an equal level of education across the country.