Exploring the influence of the school setting on quality of education in a rural context in South Africa

Abstract

Quality of education and achievement of learners should be the commitment of every educational system. Yet institutions have their unique characteristics that either facilitate or hinder the achievement of universal primary educational goals. Individual schools therefore initiate their own mechanisms, unique or used by other institutions, to ensure quality in schools. This study focused on how school-based factors influence quality of education in primary schools. The great concern was the poor performance of learners in English and Mathematics. This study employed a qualitative design to gather systematic, comprehensive and in-depth information. Data were collected using focus group interviews with twenty Grade 6 English and Mathematics teachers. Data collected was transcribed, categorised and presented as themes with verbatim quotes from the participants to support the themes. The findings reveal that most teachers lack the requisite knowledge of English and Mathematics content to improve learners’ performance. The findings show that quality and achievement challenges brought by the implementation of free primary education in King Cetshwayo primary schools in KwaZuluNatal are still prevalent. Understaffing; insufficient syllabus coverage; overcrowded and deficient classrooms; and inadequate instructional materials are some of the factors that have impacted on the quality of education in schools. The study also found that there are inadequate teacher development programmes for English and Mathematics to regularly capacitate them on how to improve learner results in English and Mathematics. The study recommends that principals, teachers, parents and government need to put measures in place that will address quality challenges in schools to ensure the realisation and sustainability of Universal Primary Education and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The study therefore recommends that the Department of Basic Education should ensure that teacher developmental programmes are conducted as frequently as possible at the cluster level, circuit and district levels to enrich teachers with pedagogical knowledge that they need to improve the English and Mathematics performance of their learners.