By Bongani Shabangu and Gift Sonkqayi
Johannesburg - Population growth is a challenge faced by Africa. The World Economic Forum (WEF) reported that despite the expected population drop in most continents, Africa’s is expected to rise by 2050 to 1.34 billion.
According to Stats SA, our population has reached the 59 million mark. For pessimists, this may be discouraging as most people grapple with poverty. Optimists may see opportunities to tap into under-utilised talent in order to grow their businesses and facilitate skills transfer. This brings us to the crucial aspect of cultivating talent – education.
To do justice to unpacking the undesirable repercussions of population growth for South African education in its current form, we need to discuss Malthus’s theory of population growth.
In 1798, Thomas Robert Malthus contended in his Malthusian theory that population grows exponentially while food production grows arithmetically. Malthus believed populations grow at a much faster pace than food production… at some point, population growth was going to exceed the amount of food available. Many scholars note that for years this has not happened and that this is because Malthus failed to factor the issue of technological advancement into his account of population growth. This implies that humans have managed to escape the challenges of population growth when it comes to issues such as access to food.
When it comes to education, population growth has strained existing resources. It has made it almost impossible for some learners to acquire any form of education (for example skills, knowledge, attitudes and values). In South Africa, most schools in the townships and rural areas are heavily overpopulated.
South Africa has more than 25 000 schools. No fewer than 23 000 are public schools. The Department of Basic Education houses more than 9 million learners, while the Independent Examination Board houses round about 600 000.
This, in combination with state-of the-art resources, makes it possible for private schools to attract some of the country’s best teachers. These schools thus provide what can arguably be considered the best educational experience. Schools in poverty-stricken communities are mostly characterised by dilapidated infrastructure with inadequate learning and teaching facilities.
The Department of Higher Education reported in 2015 that more than 47.7% of university students dropped out, with most being black and coloured students. Most were products of public schools in poor communities.
Other factors play a part in disadvantaging poor learners such as lack of parental involvement. Some schools have resources but are unable to meaningfully use them due to lack of properly structured teacher development programmes. However, some schools in poor areas perform well despite overcrowding and these schools are thought to be resilient.
But some poor residents are not innocent. Countless times schools have been burned down and no regard shown for the future of learners. Thus, we do not assume that equal distribution of resources will lead to equal educational experiences and outcomes.
Bongani Shabangu is a tutor at Wits University School of Education in the Social and Economic Sciences Organisational Unit and Gift Sonkqayi has a Masters degree in Education from the University of the Witwatersrand.
The Star