This paper discusses the relationship between the political intentions of South Africa's educational policy and its educational outcomes, suggesting that the more learner-centered the curriculum and the lower the socioeconomic status of its recipients, the less likely it is to achieve its goal of social equity. The paper considers the proper…

A pilot of a reading test to be used in college entrance examinations for black South Africans showed how students' interpretation of the test differed as the social context was altered. The multiple meanings produced by shifting power relations call into question the test's validity. (SK)

Through examining the concept of rights in emergent South Africa policy, this article illustrates how philosophy can serve democratic policy in pursuit of the public good. Although the South African Schools Act establishes some institutional conditions for a right-based educational system, curriculum inadequacies may undermine this objective.…

It has become common place for students in historically white universities (HWUs) in South Africa to have 24 hour access to computers, the Internet, e-learning facilities, check results online and even register online. However, historically black universities (HBUs) are still battling to have access to these facilities. On a macro level, the issue…

In his critique of academic writing about and public consumption of government policy and law, Jonathan Jansen uses his argument of the symbolic functions of education law and education policy as a basis for explaining the lack of progress in achieving equity and justice under "Brown v. Board of Education" (1954) in the United States and…

This paper describes the status of library services in Natal, South Africa. Fragmented services dominate the area, with public, urban, and school libraries existing in complete autonomy from each other and ambivalent about each other's existence. Within school libraries, provision of services varies widely and reflects the wider apartheid…

The history of language in South Africa is characterized by linguistic inequality, European domination and imperialist ideology, suppression and denigration of indigenous languages through non-recognition, and entangled interrelationships among education, race, language, and identity. Official policy enforced mono- or bilingualism through the use…

At the beginning of the 1990s, education in South Africa was in turmoil and experienced a major crisis. Adding to the crisis were problems such as major inequalities in South African society where the majority of people were marginalized and forced to live in a disenfranchised society. Educational change was required to provide equity in terms of…

Because South Africa has a critical shortage of skilled industrial personnel, new work opportunities are appearing for the disadvantaged Black majority. This will, in turn, require a rapid reorientation of the country's educational system, especially at the postcompulsory level, to provide Blacks with the necessary vocational skills. (SJL)

Presents the stories of three black, female, activist teachers who combined teaching and politics to help fight South Africa's apartheid regime. They promoted alternative curricula and worked against apartheid oppression. Each believed in the struggle and, although they believed in nonracialism, they identified as black, a political construction…

South Africa's university system is differentiated along racial and state-defined ethnic lines, and grossly unequal in resource allocation. Although educators agree private and public effort should and can be devoted to developing alternatives to race-based education, little can be accomplished until the question of state policy is resolved. (MSE)

Fundamental pedagogics, the Afrikaans philosophy of education, is an integral component of apartheid's ideological foundation, functioning both to justify and to legitimate separate educational systems. This article discusses this philosophy and the manner in which it manifests itself in teacher education and in the relationship between teacher…

Tells the stories of two South African teachers who spent years in Robben Island prison because of their anti-apartheid work, offering a contextual history of apartheid in South Africa, describing education on Robben Island and the teachers' efforts at improvement through education, and reflecting on the meaning and value of such stories in…

Discusses a comprehensive approach to racial inclusion in education, highlighting the inclusion process undertaken at one South African university during the post-apartheid era and examining this experience for possible lessons to be learned by U.S. postsecondary institutions. Suggested strategies for racial inclusion must consider developing…

The principal concern of this paper is the implication of the increasing diversity of higher education provision in South Africa for equity of access and opportunity for historically disadvantaged social groups, high-quality provision, and social and economic responsiveness in distance higher education. This diversity is signalled by a variety of…