District officials’ perspectives regarding factors that impede the attainment of quality basic education in a province in South Africa

ABSTRACT

The provision of quality basic education is essential as it can ensure that all learners have an equal opportunity to succeed in life. This paper discusses district officials’ perspectives regarding some factors that impede the achievement of quality basic education in schools under their jurisdiction. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews conducted with district officials in eight districts in one province of South Africa. Data analysis followed the iterative approach. Findings reveal that district officials viewed the state of education in their districts and circuit as unsatisfactory due to: low teacher morale, schools’ lack of confidence in their districts and the perceived neglect of the General Education and Training Band. It is argued that improved teacher working conditions, use of better service delivery model by the districts and education department, and full prioritisation of the GET Band are needed in these districts. In conclusion, to achieve social justice in education, corrective measures should be premised upon the understanding of the social and contextual issues as these represent the crippling factors in the province.

KEYWORDS:

• Circuit manager
• district officials
• school districts
• quality education
• teachers
• South Africa

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

ORCID

Bongani D. Bantwini http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4053-3453

Notes

1 In this paper, Quality’ is understood to refer to ‘how much and how well children learn and the extent to which their education translates into a range of personal, social and developmental benefits’ (UNESCO 2015). Also, I draw from the Flemish Association for Development Cooperation and Technical Assistance definition that state: ‘A good quality education is one that provides all learners with capabilities they require to become economically productive, develop sustainable livelihoods, contribute to peaceful and democratic societies and enhance individual well-being’. Quality education, as Spaull (2015) contends, can be defined as the acquisition of the knowledge, skills and values that society deems valuable – usually articulated in the curriculum.

2 Morale, according to Washington and Watson (1976), is the feeling a worker has about his job based on how the worker perceives himself in the organisation and the extent to which the organisation is viewed as meeting the worker's own needs and expectations.