Racial equity in education: How far has South Africa come?

A major task of South Africa's new government in 1994 was to design a more racially equitable education system. This article evaluates progress towards this goal using three concepts of equity: equal treatment by race, equal educational opportunity, and educational adequacy. The authors find that the country moved quickly towards a race-blind system, including race-blind policies for allocating state funds to schools. Progress measured by the other two criteria, however, has been constrained by the legacy of apartheid, including poor facilities and lack of human capacity in schools serving black students, and by policies concerning school fees. The article concludes with some thoughts on the future outlook.

Duke Scholars

Author Helen F. Ladd Sanford School of Public Policy