STAFF REPORTER

A new report by Stellenbosch University’s Research on Socio-Economic Policy (Resep) group highlights critical challenges in South African education, presenting new insights drawn from comprehensive administrative data.

The study finds that children who enter Grade 1 at the minimum age of five-and-a-half years old, face a significantly higher risk of repeating the grade than those who wait until age 6 to enter school, with boys being particularly affected.

Furthermore, boys transitioning to English as the language of instruction in Grade 4 encounter more difficulties than girls, even when beginning with similar proficiency in an African home language.

Drawing on extensive data from SA-SAMS, LURITS and the Data Driven Districts (DDD) programme across six of South Africa’s nine provinces, the report underscores persistent gender disparities in school progression. In Grade 12, there are nearly 100,000 more girls than boys in the education system, a disparity attributed to higher repetition rates among boys.

This study, a collaboration between Resep and the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, examines the long-term impacts of early school entry, linguistic challenges and subject choices in the Further Education and Training (FET) phase, providing valuable insights for policymakers and educators.

The Resep report indicates that early school entry is associated with higher repetition rates, particularly among boys. Specifically, learners who begin Grade 1 at the minimum permissible age of 5 years and 6 months are at a notably higher risk of grade repetition.

For instance, in the Eastern Cape, the repetition rate for boys entering school at five years and six months is 31%, compared to 19% for girls of the same age group. In contrast, boys in the Eastern Cape who entered Grade 1 a year later, at 6 years and 6 months, had a repetition rate of 20%, while girls had a rate of 8%. This suggests that younger entrants often may lack the developmental readiness required for formal schooling, leading to early academic struggles.

This pattern is consistent across multiple provinces, indicating that younger school entrants, particularly younger boys, are more susceptible to repeating Grade 1.

In many South African schools, particularly those where African languages are used as the medium of instruction during the Foundation Phase (Grades 1–3), the transition to English as the Language of Learning and Teaching (LoLT) in Grade 4 presents significant challenges for learners.

The theory of linguistic interdependence suggests that strong proficiency in one’s home language supports second-language acquisition, a concept supported by evidence from African educational contexts. The Resep report highlights that learners with weak home language skills in Grade 3 are more likely to struggle with English First Additional Language (EFAL) in Grade 4, increasing their risk of repetition.

Data shows that learners who performed well in Grade 3 Home Language consistently achieved higher EFAL scores in Grade 4. Notably, girls outperformed boys by 3 to 5 percentage points across all six provinces, an advantage that remained even after accounting for factors such as absenteeism, age and prior achievement. This finding underscores the need for targeted interventions to strengthen home language proficiency and provide additional support during this critical transition.

In the Further Education and Training (FET) phase, gender disparities become increasingly evident. While initial enrolments are relatively balanced, higher repetition rates among boys lead to a significant gender gap by Grade 12.

The report indicates that approximately 100 000 more girls than boys are enrolled in Grade 12, a disparity attributed to much higher repetition rates among boys than girls. Although repetition rates have declined since the pandemic, boys continue to experience higher repetition and dropout rates than girls. This results in a higher concentration of boys in lower grades and increases dropout rates among boys, particularly after failing Grade 10.

These findings provide critical insights into the factors affecting learner progression and highlight areas for policy intervention.

Additionally, the report explores a relatively uncommon practice in South African schools, referred to as "learner-following". In this model, teachers advance with their students through successive grades - for example, a Grade 1 teacher moves to Grade 2 with the same cohort and subsequently to Grade 3. Preliminary findings suggest that this approach may confer learning advantages in some contexts.