5.2 Data presentation
5.2.5 Influence of school categorisation on school improvement
The majority of the participants highlighted the negative influences of their schools categorisation in terms of accessing the resources and blaming the quintile rankings in which their schools were allocated in. The participants mentioned that the allocation they are receiving does not necessitate them to access modern resources that can stimulate learners’
abilities. The majority of the participants mentioned that they were unable to access resources namely: computers, projectors, learning programmes, text books and laboratory kits. Only few participants felt they that they were able to access the resources such as: books, computers with internet and support, but they need more.
Mrs Panday, the post level 1 teacher from Mshini Secondary School explained:
To our school it has positive influence, but we’ve had to make do because we can access all kind of resources and manage it well. I think the challenge was where we look at what we could have because if we want to move into the modern era which is where we want to move, even in terms of the technological advancements, we cannot have that
(Mrs Panday, post level 1 teacher of Mshini Secondary School).
Similarly, Mr Bell, the principal of Mshini Secondary School stated:
Our resources were reasonable well to meet the needs of school, such that our learners and staff have access to computers in the school and we have a Wi-Fi campus
(Mr Bell, the principal of Mshini Secondary School).
Likewise, Mrs Sibonga, the principal of Hloba Primary School had the following to say:
When we order resources we get them on time, each and every learner has a reading book in front of him or her. That has a good improvement in the school
(Mrs Sibonga, the principal of Hloba Primary School).
The majority of the participants felt that the allocation they are receiving from the Department of Education is not sufficient because they cannot improve teaching and learning
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to the level they wish to. Mrs Nodlula, the principal of Toyi Primary School highlighted the following:
I wish we were in a quintile where we could get more money so that we could have the resources, for an example if each child in a classroom could have a computer or maybe teachers have more access to more projectors in each class, whiteboard or even a television as a teaching tool. I wish we have programmes for English and Maths that can be installed in the computers. Although we do have computers they are only for basic or elementary programmes. If we could have those programmes but there are very costly
(Mrs Nodlula, principal of Toyi Primary School).
Likewise, Mrs Serum, the post level 1 teacher of Ngoyi Primary School explained:
Categorisation does because when we start ordering textbooks there was a certain percentage for the books, we have to get textbooks with that but what happens in the case where we find that we need to improve the language like reading of the school, we don’t need the textbooks we need maybe more tape recorders and televisions in this era as teaching resources
(Mrs Sewrum, post level 1 teacher of Ngoyi Primary School).
When asked further Mrs Sewrum, the post level 1 teacher of Ngoyi Primary School stated:
Perhaps our grade R we need to have a good foundation there, so the resources for the Grade R’s: they need to be impeccable, they need lots of resources like exposure to the puzzles: the books and so forth: let say for the language in order to improve by the time they get to Grade 1 we have inculcated that sort of a culture of reading, language and working with those resources. Even sport equipment we cannot afford, only through donations we get few balls that all
(Mrs Sewrum, post level 1 teacher of Ngoyi Primary School).
Similarly, Mrs Bhekela, the post level 1 teacher of Hloba Primary School had the following to say:
We are a no-fee school: I think that is what affects us negatively because you cannot access resources the way you want to. We sometimes run out of funds; there was a
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time where I complained to the principal that I’m a science teacher but ever since I came here I have not seen a science kit. I am heading to the point that we cannot access resources the way we are supposed to
(Mrs Bhekela, post level 1 teacher of Hloba Primary School).
Likewise, Mr Sikhulu, the post level 1 teacher of Lokishini Secondary School felt they were hard hit by the scarcity of the resources as secondary school that is expected to should produce the future citizens. As he had explained:
This was unbearable. The only resources that we can afford were the resources that we cannot live without. For example, textbooks, we do buy textbooks, although not enough. Most of the learners share textbooks, because we cannot afford to buy a textbook for each learner
(Mr Sikhulu, post level 1 teacher of Lokishini Secondary School).
In addition, Mr Sikhulu, the post level 1 teacher of Lokishini Secondary School stated:
Secondly, whenever there is a change in the syllabus, for example when the curriculum assessment policy was introduced, we checked the content of the textbooks that was used in the old syllabus and in most cases the content is the same so we tried and used the old textbooks because we cannot afford new textbooks. Unfortunately, due to the scarcity of funds we were compelled to do that
(Mr Sikhulu, post level 1 teacher of Lokishini Secondary School).
Perusing the documents at Mshini Secondary School, the school time table stipulates that all classes attend the computer lessons. In addition, during my visit at the school I went to the computer room where I observed the learners during the computer lesson were busy using computers which shows that they were productive. At the staff room there were thirty computers for the teachers which have internet access. This corroborates with what both Mr Bell and Mrs Panday of Mshini Secondary School mentioned when they alluded to the fact that there were able to access resources. Furthermore, in every lesson I observed all learners had books in front of them.
Mrs Sibonga, the principal of Hloba Primary School stated that every learner has a book in front of him or her. But during my lesson observations at the school I witnessed six learners
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in a classroom sharing one book and in another classroom the teacher was writing notes from the book on the board and learners were copying them. What I observed at Hloba Primary School refutes what Mrs Sibonga, the principal of Hloba Primary School mentioned during semi-structured interview where she mentioned that every learner has a book in their school.
In the same vein although I did not observe the Science lesson it can be concluded that what Mrs Bhekela, the post level 1 teacher mentioned about the shortage of resources corroborates what I observed. In addition, Mrs Bhekela, the post level 1 teacher of Hloba Primary School pointed to the minutes of the subject meeting dated 29 January 2015 where she was remarking the non-existence of the science kit for a science lessons. This corroborates with what Mrs Bhekela shared during our discussion concerning the access of resources.
I visited the computer lesson at Toyi Primary School the programmes that were installed in the computers were very old, although learners attended lessons in the computer room but they were able to learn the basic skills like using the keyboard and the mouse. This corroborates with what Mrs Nodlula, the principal of Toyi Primary School explained during our discussion when stating that the software their computers have were old and outdated.
When visiting the grade R classes at Ngoyi Primary School the only resources that were present were the handmade alphabets written in cardboards for the learners to learn with. This corroborates with what Mrs Sewrum, the post level 1 teacher of Ngoyi Primary School when she was pointing out that there cannot build the foundation on the grade R because of the fact that there cannot access the necessary resources. The concern raised by Mr Sikhulu, the post level 1 teacher of Lokishini Secondary School was confirmed when observing the three grade 12 classrooms, where out of forty-five learners in each class, only about twenty learners had text books supplied by the school. When checking with one teacher I was told that the school cannot afford to buy textbooks for the entire learners, it is the responsibility of the teacher to make photocopies for the learners only on important topics. This seems to suggest that effective teaching and learning is being impeded by the shortage of resources.
For the school that was able to access the resource it suggests that teachers were able to teach without any contextual factors and learners were able to strive for the best. Having access to internet mean that learners able were to work independently and improve their academic performance. When the foundation was not built in learners in terms of accessing basic resources suggest that the learners will struggle to grasp the concepts of their foundation learning. This is confirmed by literature that in a study by Ramovha (2009) which show that the lack of learners’ support materials hampers the culture of teaching and learning in schools
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which results in the school being ineffective. In the Southern and Eastern African Consortium for Monitoring Education Quality 111 study by Spaull (2012) textbooks are classified as essential classroom resources on the basis that effective teaching and learning cannot take place without them. Since the literature proves that accessing resources is essential for those schools which the majority in my study are unable to access resources this suggest that it will be through hard work and struggling that they were able to improve school performance without resources. Terry and Hogg (2001) postulate that one of the basic premise of the social identity theory is that each group seeks to improve its self by gaining approval from the organisation.
The findings from the majority of the participants suggest that there was a negative relationship between how they were categorised and how they accessed the school resources.
Listening to the majority of the participants, they seemed to be frustrated with the fact that they come to school but they could not access the basic resources for the core business of the school which is teaching and learning. The few participants who had the resources felt they were able to make do with whatever they could access.
The next theme discusses the impact of school categorisation on teaching and learning.