A gap exists in the provision of education between urban and rural schools despite major efforts by the Department of Basic Education to provide equal education for all South Africans as directed by SASA. There exists a gap between policy intentions and policy implementation as alluded to by Samuel (2005) as well as Fiske and Ladd (2004). Rural schools are isolated, small and under-resourced, have a poor infrastructure, are far from urban schools and serve communities with a low population density. Moreover, many learners are often absent due to
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social and financial challenges. Some rural schools are still without water and electricity and some are inaccessible by road or telecommunication (Samuel, 2005).
Urban schools on the other hand enjoy better facilities, sufficient resources, service parents who are employed and attract the services of better qualified educators, to mention a few (Chisholm 2005; Fiske & Ladd, 2004). Fataar (2007) argues that there is a broad consensus, acknowledged by the state, that the inequities in education have deepened and that reform initiatives have faltered.
Graeme Bloch, an education specialist who addressed a delegation at the Knowledge Week organized by the Development Bank of Southern Africa, is quoted as saying, “Education in South Africa is shown to be in crisis. It does not meet national goals in terms of providing broad access to quality education that would enable the equitable sharing of opportunities. The education system remains highly stratified with two systems still in place and the inequality between them is being reinforced and perpetuated. Only a small number of Black students receive an education of any meaningful quality and those attending rural and poor schools are entrenched into the survivalist second economy” (Bloch, 2009).
I believe the study will contribute to national debate as it will reveal what is actually happening in rural schools and illuminate the progress – or lack of progress - of rural education in South Africa. Further, it will allow for a comparison of rural education between South Africa and other countries and share some insights on rural education with the rest of the world. The study will make an impact within disciplinary and interdisciplinary contexts as the Department of Basic Education has invested large sums of money to improve rural education by, for example, decreasing the pupil teacher ratio, declaring some schools as no-fee schools and the introduction of the school nutrition programme, to mention a few. However, in my view very little improvement has taken place on the ground.
My experience as a school manager, the conversion of schools from fee paying schools to no-fee schools has had a negative impact on the functionality of schools. Schools are without funds for long periods as the allocated stipend often does not reach the schools during the first quarter when it is needed most. Furthermore, the procurement of resources is such a drawn-out process
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that, sometimes, school funds are eventually returned to treasury without learner-teacher support materials reaching the schools.
Class teachers are expected to teach all nine learning areas, some of which they are not familiar with. The revised pupil-teacher ratio has not brought any relief to rural primary schools as many schools have multi-grade classes that compel educators to teach large classes. The working hours allocated to the senior management team members to enable them to deal with their responsibilities further compels educators to teach extra lessons.
In the light of this, the study will contribute to further research as the information provided by the literature review and the empirical nature of the study will reveal what challenges confront schools in rural areas. A search for possible solutions to these challenges could serve as a topic for further research. Much research has been conducted in urban schools, therefore it is hoped that more attention will be given to rural education in the near future.
In terms of parental involvement in education, studies have been conducted globally on this issue. South African authors include Woolhuter, Lemmer and de Wet (2007); Lemmer, Meier and Van Wyk (2006); and Mncube (2009), while international authors include Kyriakides (2005) and Hargreaves (2009). The authors mentioned concur with Epstein (1992) who argues that learners do better academic work and have more positive attitudes if they have parents who are involved.
I believe the study will allude to factors that purport the gaps in education, illuminate challenges, expose failures and highlight factors hindering the effective participation of parents in the education of their children. Since the school is a unique entity, schools could compare strengths, threats, weaknesses and opportunities meaningfully and adopt management techniques that would facilitate effective parental participation in their schools and, in so doing, fill in existing gaps where they exist. The study will provide information as to whether or not parental involvement in the life of the school is enhancing learner achievement. Legislation such as the SASA (1996) implores parents to participate in the life of the school. However, it still has to be proven whether parents in rural areas are assisting their children in an effort to enhance their achievement at school.
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It is hoped that this study will encourage rural schools that have not yet tapped into the capacity of parents to do so, so that parents can assist them in the provision of quality education. Schools should acknowledge the important role parents can play and employ their services meaningfully.
Furthermore, it is hoped that parents from rural areas may become aware of the contribution they can make in the provision of a quality education. All it will require is some effort on their part.
Parents’ prime responsibility is to ensure their children’s welfare. In this regard, Departmental prescripts require that parents provide support to the schools attended by their children in a variety of areas. While all areas of support are important and overlap, the following table provides the areas and level of importance at which parents could provide support:
A - the most crucial level of parental support B - very important level of parental support C - important level of parental support D - less important level of parental support E - least important level of parental support
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Table 1.1 Types and levels of possible areas where parents could participate