Andrea Juan

Home and school resources as predictors of mathematics performance in South Africa

The creation of an environment conducive to learning is vitally important in the academic achievement of learners. Such an environment extends beyond the classroom and school to include the home. It is from these environments that learners draw resources, both tangible and intangible, that impact on their educational experience. While current bodies of literature focus on either school or home resources, this paper looks at both. Multiple regression analyses were conducted on the 2011 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) data to determine the resources factors that influence South African learners’ performance in mathematics. The findings reveal that both school and home environments play significant roles in learners’ mathematics performance. This paper therefore suggests that it is not only the socio-economic factors of schools that impact learners’ mathematics performance, but also that higher levels of parental education have a significant positive influence. Keywords : home resources; learning environment; mathematics performance; predictors of performance; school resources; TIMSS 2011

Managing teacher leave and absence in South African rural schools Implications for supporting schools in contexts of multiple-deprivation

Research increasingly points to the negative impacts of teacher absence from school on access to schooling and success in learning in schools, in particular in schools in areas of multiple-deprivation (including rural schools). South African schools are no exception. In this regard, like any other employer, the South African Department of Basic Education has a set of policies that govern teachers’ conditions of service. Among others, these include policies that govern leave and absence from school. While the policies are meant to enhance teachers’ conditions of service, they are also aimed at safeguarding the rights of learners to quality education by ensuring that teachers remain on task, and that teaching and learning is not interrupted. Using Lipsky’s theory of discretion, this paper takes the view that as street-level bureaucrats, principals use their discretionary power to manage teacher leave and absence from school, and that the strategies they employ are informed by their understandings and conceptualisations of policy. The paper reports on a study undertaken to explore teacher leave in South African schools. In particular, it critically examines principals’ use of their discretionary powers to make decisions about teacher leave-taking, and the coping mechanisms they use to manage teacher absence and to safeguard the rights of learners to quality education.

Skills in South Africa: the journey towards credible planning

ABSTRACT Since 1994 the state has instituted active labour market policies to redress the apartheid skills legacy. The skills planning challenge continues to be how to coordinate efforts for the provision of the right skills to support inclusive economic growth, ensuring an alignment is achieved between what is required in the labour market and the supply from the education and training system. This article traces the South African journey of skills planning from late apartheid until the current time period in 2014 through a historical analysis of the political economy. The analysis reflects on the relationship between state formation in South Africa and the role of the state in directing skills development, and in the more recent period how skills planning responds to both the demands of the economy and ameliorating the historical legacies of education and skills exclusion.