We found that although South Africa has a well-developed national government planning framework, there is a substantial gap between intended goals and operational plans, budgets, and implementation. At the provincial level, where much of the resources for education are spent, politicians and senior public servants need to address multiple pressures, including ensuring all children get access to schools, meeting stakeholder demands (unions), addressing minority interests and improving learning outcomes. As in many governance systems around the world, there is an inevitable tension between politicians’ short-term political demands (media coverage, and ‘flagship’ and ‘legacy’ projects), and senior public servants’ mandate to ensure the long-term stability of the education system.

Within the provincial education department, the South African RISE team identified the problem of ‘cadre deployment’ (i.e., politically connected individuals) and the weaknesses within the professional public service as a barrier to improvement.  These challenges are made that much more difficult to overcome in a period of declining per student expenditure and a national funding system that is largely formula driven.

To lead change to the ‘technical core,’ (effective teaching and learning in the classroom) requires capable professional capacity-building and accountability at the local level.  Our research on the South African education districts shows that they have five constraints:

1. Insufficient capacity (too few posts);
2. Lack of professional expertise/patronage in appointments;
3. Multiple, and at times conflicting, bureaucratic deliverables;
4. Accountable systems not to schools, but upward to the provincial bureaucracy, and
5. Widespread deep distrust between teachers and district officials.

Even where districts are effectively managed, the absence of system-wide indicators of early grade reading and mathematics outcomes means that there is limited focus on the learning crisis. 

At the school level, parent ‘voice’ and ‘choice’ are potentially powerful forces in the South African education system. The school legislation grants parents considerable real authority around both finance and school policies. But in the absence of reliable information on learning outcomes (other than the high stakes exit Grade 12 exams), parent governors cannot play a constructive role in system improvements. 

With reference to ‘choice’, South Africa has an unintended legislative framework that permits considerable choice within the public school system. But as with the powers of parent governors, parents’ ability to use their capacity to choose their children’s school is limited by the absence of meaningful measurement of early grade learning.

The Wits RISE team analysis uncovered two critical priority areas that need to be addressed to ensure that South Africa become more effective at driving improved early grade learning system-wide.  The first relates to professional capacity.  There needs to be a more even balance between political leadership and leadership provided by senior public servants, particularly those with deep professional experience and expertise.  Deep professional expertise needs to be cultivated both in middle management at the provincial head office and at the district level.  The other key area is the need for widely accepted and accurate information/measurement of early grade learning. Test results of early grade learning need to be accurate at the school level, gathered at frequent intervals, and accessible to all stakeholders in the system.