The perceptions of parents of their role in the democratic governance of schools in South Africa: Are they on board?

I argue that parent participation in SGBs is an important ingredient in building democracy in the schooling system, as well as in the wider society of South Africa. At some schools in South Africa, parents are not yet playing their full role as governors mandated by legislation. Parents at some rural schools are reluctant to participate in the decision-making by School Governing Bodies (SGBs) as a result of their low educational level or of power struggles in SGBs. In some former model C schools, on the other hand, lack of participation is related to a level of education of parents in general, lack of education on parental involvement in school activities, a fear of ‘academic victimisation' of their children, language barrier, and difficulty in attending meetings. This lack of involvement is at its highest in school governing bodies. It appears therefore that while representation and debate are theoretically open and fair, there are still factors that inhibit SGBs from operating democratically. Although the political control of apartheid has gone, issues related to full democratic participation have not been resolved. South African Journal of Education Vol. 29 (1) 2009: pp. 83-10

Democratic citizenship education: Towards a model for establishing democratic mathematics teacher education

This article provides an explication of the concepts of democracy and democratic citizenship from a political dimension, it also offers insight into the nature of democracy and democratic citizenship in post-apartheid South Africa. The article further outlines the relationship between mathematics and democracy, as well as a number of pedagogical approaches which are capable of fostering democratic principles in mathematics education classrooms. Finally, the article proposes a model which encompasses a trilogy of democratic principles; humanising pedagogy; and social, cultural, economic and political issues which can be employed in preparing mathematics student teachers to become fully democratic citizens. &nbsp

Expanding the Social Security Net in South Africa: Opportunities, Challenges and Constraints

Rapid increases in government expenditure on social security between 2000 and 2006 has further increased poor households’ reliance on welfare grants and has been important in the fight against poverty. Already there is evidence of a substitution taking place within the social budget: expenditure on education and health seems to have declined in favour of increased welfare transfer expenditure

The Impact of Growth and Redistribution on Poverty and Inequality in South Africa

This country study evaluates the experience of the South African economy with respect to growth, poverty and inequality trends since the advent of democracy in 1994

Is schooling good for the development of society?: the case of South Africa

This paper is concerned with three possible theoretical relationships, between education and social, economic and political development, that - (a) education improves society, (b) education reproduces society as it is and (c) education actually makes society worse. The paper then uses South Africa as a case study to critically analyse these different roles of education in relation to development theory. In particular, it examines three theoretical tensions in post-apartheid education policy and practice - those between human capital theory and social reproduction, between modernisation and bureaucratic disorganisation, and between democracy and peace and authoritarianism and violence. It concludes by attempting to explain these tensions and contradictions in term of factors specific to South Africa such as teacher professionalism and teacher identity and in relation to wider factors inherent in the historical origins of schooling as a form of organisation based on social control