The DA recognises that quality education is the key to unlocking opportunities, lifting communities out of poverty, and fuelling economic growth. Unfortunately, South Africa’s education system is failing and requires urgent intervention to be fixed.
South Africa’s education system is characterised by poor educational outcomes, limited quality education, unsafe learning environments, and inadequate governance. Our country’s poor educational outcomes are evident by the dismal performances on international benchmark tests in literacy and numeracy. These poor outcomes can be attributed to an overloaded curriculum, implementation challenges, inadequate teaching quality, and teacher shortages.
Furthermore, financial constraints, inadequate school infrastructure and a lack of transportation hinder access to education, particularly for learners with disabilities and those who reside in rural areas. Many schools are also riddled with safety challenges, such as violence, bullying and gang-related activity, as well as being victims of service delivery protests that are unrelated to education. The digital divide exacerbates educational inequality, as many students lack access to computers, the internet, and other essential technologies required for modern education. Finally, the education system suffers from maladministration, corruption, and undue political influence, which erodes leadership and accountability within our educational institutions.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) is committed to transforming our failing education system into one that empowers learners with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed. Our Education Policy identifies the key challengespreventing South Africa from realising its education objectives and proposes recommendations that, if effectively implemented, will provide a clear roadmap to turning around our failing basic education system.
Our vision is clear: A schooling system that prepares young people for life and the world of work, enabling them to live lives they value as contributing citizens.
To realise this vision, the DA’s Education Policy is built on five key objectives with corresponding recommendations to establish conditions that foster learner excellence:
To Enable Learners to Become Literate and Numerate at International Benchmarked Levels by:
- Prioritising foundational literacy and numeracy in early schooling (first three years of school).
- Reviewing the curriculum to identify and reduce content overload.
- Providing robust pre-implementation training for teachers to ensure effective implementation of the curriculum.
- Enhancing diverse and comprehensive professional development opportunities for teachers.
- Cultivating a time management culture in schools through a “Time-on-Task” philosophy to help prevent unnecessary loss of learning time.
- Establishing School Evaluation Authorities (SEA) in every province, based on the Western Cape model, to measure, monitor and evaluate school performance.
To Provide Quality Access to Education for All by:
- Reviewing and improving funding allocations for schools.
- Considering a Scholar Transport Conditional Grant, with a needs assessment conducted in each province, where the grant is proportional to the scholar’s transport needs and affordable.
- Professionalising the Early Childhood Development (ECD) sector.
- Promoting public-private partnerships and performance-based contracts for school infrastructure projects.
- Supporting a tailored education model that meets the diverse needs of learners and recognises the complexity of disabilities in relation to learning outcomes.
To Contribute Towards Creating a Safe and Secure Education Environment by:
- Combatting school violence, bullying, and gang activity.
- Strengthening learner tracking and tracing mechanisms and diverting learners who drop out of all forms of education back into the school system.
- Providing psychosocial support for learners.
- Establishing a National School Protection Response Team, comprising departments such as the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the Department of Basic Education (DBE), as well as other relevant stakeholders.
To Enhance the Benefits of Technology in the Provision of Basic Education by:
- Expanding free internet access in under-serviced areas.
- Developing minimum norms and standards for online schools.
- Incorporating a “Learning to Teach Online” component in teacher development training.
- Promoting collaboration between home-schoolers and traditional schools by sharing facilities such as sports and recreation amenities.
To Develop Good Governance, Leadership, Management and Accountability in all Levels of the Education System by:
- Fostering collaboration between provincial education departments to share administrative successes and resources for improved administration.
- Implementing minimum membership qualification guidelines for specialist posts in school governing bodies.
- Ensuring annual development training for school governing body members and strengthening the collaboration school model.
Despite budget constraints and resistance from entrenched interests, the DA remains steadfast in our mission. We will implement bold, cost-effective reforms that deliver maximum impact with minimal financial burden. The DA is committed to transforming our education system into a beacon of excellence that can compete globally and help turn the tide on poor education outcomes.
Every child in South Africa deserves access to quality education and one that prepares them for a successful future. The DA’s Education Policy is not just a plan; it is a promise to rebuild our education system into a pillar of excellence and a source of national pride.