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ABSTRACT
Fieldwork conducted in 1998 and 2005 in six previously segregated Cape Town schools illustrates the results of post-apartheid education policies. The apartheid legacy was one of gross racial, urban-rural and provincial inequalities, and the racially divided education system was a key target of the liberation struggle, but despite increased spending on coloured, Indian and black African education in the 1980s it had undergone no radical change by 1994.
Desegregation has occurred in urban areas, but only ‘up’ the aparthied racial hierarchy, with class replacing race. English is the dominant medium of instruction with the teaching of black African languages largely confined to black African schools. In more affluent catchment areas, schools charge ever higher fees to maintain favourable learner-teacher ratios and facilities, which are reflected in academic performance.
Another legacy of the apartheid era is the disproportionately high share of educational budgets devoted to teachers' pay; it is hard to predict progress towards equality of opportunity while this remains the case.