When I started my role as the project manager for social transformation at Christel House South Africa eight months ago, wealth inequality was not my area of expertise. I knew it was an enormous challenge in South Africa, but the extent of the challenge blew me away. Youth unemployment is a hot topic in South Africa right now. But if we are to have any hope of addressing it, we first need to take a step back and address the thorn in South Africa’s side: the inequality of education.
In March 2022, the World Bank released a report on “Inequality in Southern Africa: An Assessment of the Southern African Customs Union”, which says South Africa is the most unequal country in the world, ranking first among 164 countries in the World Bank’s global poverty database.
What this means is that a large portion of the South African population does not partake in our economy. According to the Quarterly Labour Force Survey, for the first quarter of 2022, the unemployment rate was 63.9% for those aged 15 to 24 and 42.1% for those aged 25 to 34, while the current official national rate stands at 34.5%.
The numbers are shocking; stats are stats and they speak for themselves. If you want to see what those numbers mean in real life, what inequality looks like, look no further than our education system.
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The high rate of youth unemployment in South Africa is directly related to the sad state of the education system. The difference between the school environments of a wealthy child and a poor child is the shameful face of wealth inequality.
Unethical differences
I have been privileged to encounter both these types of schools in the past eight months and the difference is not only vast, it’s also unethical. That may seem a tad harsh, but let me paint a picture for you of the difference between a private and a public school in South Africa.
I recently visited two schools from across the wealth divide, in Finetown, Johannesburg, and in Cape Town. At the former, what I saw, I will never be able to unsee.
First, the school is bursting at the seams because of overcrowding; they have 1,500 pupils from Grade R to 7, with an average of 50 per class. One of the Grade 6 classes I visited had 84 pupils squashed into a space no bigger than my office, with wall-to-wall desks and children forced to sit on each other’s laps.
This same school has no running water or electricity and up until last year one of their classes was taught under a tree. With no additional resources, its burnt-out, frustrated teachers are expected to efficiently educate the young people of South Africa in terrible conditions.
Compare this with the school located against the backdrop of Table Mountain, with every resource at its disposal. It has classrooms and lessons that extend way beyond your average mathematics and English. These pupils are being taught about robotics and coding.
These same youngsters have access to sports fields, arts and culture classes, technological resources, psychosocial support, character development programmes and teachers who receive regular training and development opportunities. They are taught to be confident. They are not encouraged to be ambitious – it is expected of them, and they rise to the occasion.
Here’s why I say this is unethical: at the end of their schooling career, this pupil from Finetown competes for the same university spot as a pupil from the private school in Cape Town. And this competition extends beyond university. They compete for the same jobs in the same economy.
Yet, the pupil from the private school is so much more prepared for the battle. Their educational environment has adequately prepared them to fight for their spot in this world. To fight for their dreams and aspirations, the same dreams and aspirations as the pupil from Finetown.
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But it is not a fair fight, it’s an ambush. An ambush for that child from Finetown because their educational environment has sabotaged them in the battle for the lives that they envision for themselves. A life outside of poverty, a life outside of Finetown, a life with opportunities, a life that brings joy.
But there is good news on this battlefield. From what I have experienced, many private schools have checked their privilege and have acknowledged that they have a responsibility to level the playing field.
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Many private schools in South Africa are making a considerable effort towards addressing the inequalities between private and public schools through twinning projects which focus on the sharing of resources and upliftment and development of underprivileged pupils through numeracy and literacy programmes.
Private schools have begun opening up their spaces to allow for the sharing of assets such as aquatic centres and sports fields. There are programmes that bring underprivileged and wealthy pupils together, to learn from one another and grow.
Is it enough? Of course not, there are systemic and structural changes that need to take place. Is it a start? Absolutely. Are these programmes important? One hundred percent, yes.
If we want to effectively address wealth inequality and youth unemployment in South Africa, we have a moral obligation to relook our education system so that our classrooms are not just holding rooms for our young people, but a place in which all pupils, not just the privileged, are effectively prepared to be successful in this life.
As philanthropist, the late Christel DeHaan, so beautifully stated: “Every child deserves a seat at the table of life.” DM