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| The Business Trust Education Programme was established to help the Department of Education improve public schooling. It was introduced in 1999 at a time of rapid change in the education system. |
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| One million Grade 1 learners were entering the system each year. Nineteen previously racially-based education departments had been integrated into a single non-racial system. Access to education was near universal. Over 95% of 7 to 15-year-olds were enrolled in education. But, on a number of quality indictors there was a worrying trend. In the 1999 and 2003 Trends in International Mathematics and Science study (TIMS), South African learners attained the lowest average test scores in both mathematics and science compared to all other participating countries including Morocco, Tunisia, Botswana, Ghana and Egypt. |
| The Business Trust strategy was to demonstrate that it was possible to: |
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improve efficiency by improving the reading and writing ability of learners at the primary level, thus enhancing their ability to progress through the system efficiently |
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improve quality at the secondary level by improving the performance of schools with a particular focus on mathematics and language outcomes |
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improve the effectiveness of the link between schooling and the world of work through the creation of technical colleges that respond to the needs of learners and the economy. |
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| The programme was undertaken in partnership with the Department of Education. The full cost of R399,6 million was met from the Business Trust’s resources supplied by its corporate partners. Operating in over 1 500 schools with close on 37 000 teachers and officials, and affecting 1,4 million learners, this constituted one of the largest externally funded and managed programmes ever undertaken in education. |
| The Business Trust programme showed that agencies outside government can have an impact at scale by working in over 1 500 schools and reaching well over a million learners. |
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| Results |
| Improve the reading and writing ability of learners |
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850 000 learners at 957 primary schools gained more than a year on their peers in control schools |
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The teaching ability of over 13 000 teachers was improved. |
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Four million quality reading texts were provided to the schools. |
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| Improve the quality of schooling |
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Systems for the organisation and management of 524 secondary schools improved, resulting in improved learner performance |
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| The number of matriculation exemptions, English and mathematics higher grade passes increased in both project schools and control schools over the five-year term of the project. But in the project schools: |
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matriculation exemptions increased by 61% more than in control schools |
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English higher grade passes increased by 36% more than in control schools |
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the number of higher grade passes in mathematics was nine times better than in control schools. |
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| To be effective, programmes need to do more than demonstrate good results. Systems and culture must change for lasting impact. |
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| “The contribution of the Business Trust made the implementation of the further education and training strategy a real possibility.” |
| – Kader Asmal, then Minister of Education |
| Improve the effectiveness of the link between schools and the world of work |
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Further education and training system restructured |
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The number of further education and training colleges was reduced from 152 to 50. |
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The Business Trust programme assessed colleges in each province to support the merger process. It provided guidelines on strategic management and a comprehensive financial management review. Training was provided to colleges to enable them to prepare strategic plans, a partnership programme was piloted, and governing bodies and senior managers were trained. |
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| Support the acquisition of priority skills |
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Joint Initiative on Priority Skills Acquisition (JIPSA) launched |
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| In support of the Presidency’s Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA), the Business Trust supported the launch of JIPSA to identify strategies for addressing critical skills shortages in the country. |
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| Lessons |
| Scale |
| The Business Trust programme showed that agencies outside government can have an impact at scale by working in over 1 500 schools and reaching well over a million learners. |
| Public systems and private support |
| Success relies not only on the extra resources and skills that external agencies can bring, but most importantly on the proper exercise of authority that only the political, administrative and professional leaders in the system can provide. |
| Discretionary funding |
| While the Business Trust funding was small in relation to government’s multi-billion Rand budget, it provided the partners with the discretion needed to bring about change. |
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| Demonstration |
| To be effective, programmes need to do more than demonstrate good results. Systems and culture must change for lasting impact. |
| Partnership |
| Jointly governed partnerships rely on the partners having a shared vision of the change required and how to achieve it. |
| “The contribution of the Business Trust made the implementation of the further education and training strategy a real possibility.” - Minister of Education, Kader Asmal |
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For Education Publications please click here |
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