School Choice and Low-Income Black Communities in South Africa

• In Event: 44.036 - Neoliberalism, Racism, and School Choice Policy in South Africa, Canada, and the United States

Abstract

Objectives
Low-income Black communities in South Africa have been adversely impacted by school choice policies. This paper draws from the perspectives of parents who are low income and Black. They give account on how the school choice has resulted in systemic segregation in their neighborhood schools. These schools have fewer resources. This paper argues that while school choice was intended to desegregate and provide equal educational opportunities, such a policy has not sufficiently helped low-income communities, including schools that serve them. This paper shows how education policies that promote school choice instead of fully addressing the legacy of apartheid education, have an adverse impact on children from low-income communities, particularly the Black communities of South Africa.

Theoretical Framework
School choice proponents (Chubb & Moe, 1990) argue that a market-oriented approach will benefit schools and reward parents who could compete “on the level playing field” in which the choice system operates. They advocate for competition between schools and the neglect of public education. Yet opponents of choice (Apple, 2006; Ball, 2003; Lauder & Hughes, 1999; Lubienski, 2003; Author, 2012) have shown its adverse outcomes, particularly the effect of choice on marginalized communities. This paper examines the role of neoliberal policies of choice in perpetuating the marginalization of low-income communities in South Africa. I argue that such policies have exacerbated inequalities among people who were already marginalized by apartheid for decades.

Methods and Data Sources
This paper draws on a qualitative study that explored the common-sense assumptions that inform the school choices of parents. I conducted focus group interviews with 122 Black parents from different sites in the Gauteng province. The interviews consisted of four to five participants. The interview questions were open-ended, asking a range of issues from why parents choose to send their children to certain schools; the good and bad qualities of these schools; funding issues; racial challenges; and hopes for their children’s future. In this paper I focus on the interview with low-income Black parents and their experiences in segregated township schools, most of whom are unable to participate in choice.

Results
The findings of this study show that low income parents’ choices for their children’s education and views of public schools are complex. While most perceive the same problems, their common-sense notions and responses to these problems are different. All parents agreed on the importance of redressing inequalities in education and desegregation of schools. However, they were also troubled by the subtle inequalities resulting from school choice policies.

Scholarly Significance
It is important to engage in research about issues that affect low-income communities who continue to be marginalized by our institutions. Scholars and policy makers have a lot to learn from low-income Black families of South Africa about their relationships with schools, choice policies, and lack of resources. The education of this group has been marginalized for many years under apartheid. This paper informs education policy and calls for new ideas toward equal educational opportunities.

Author

• Bekisizwe S. Ndimande, The University of Texas - San Antonio