SA's middle class in crosshairs—DBE moves to ban screening at Model C schools

This article was first published by The Common Sense..In a country where public education consistently ranks near the bottom of global assessments, the Department of Basic Education has chosen to target the system's few functioning islands of excellence. As The Common Sense reports, a new parliamentary proposal would strip former Model C schools of the ability to screen pupils on academic merit, extracurricular achievement, or parental interviews — criteria that underpin their performance. The stated goal is equity; the likely outcome, argue critics, is levelling down. Notably, this proposal comes from a DA minister, prompting sharp criticism from within the party's own ideological base. The middle class, which built and sustains these schools, should pay close attention..From The Common Sense.The Department of Basic Education (DBE) has submitted a new proposal to Parliament aimed at overhauling the admission and selection process at former Model C schools..The primary objective is to dismantle an alleged racist "hidden selection system" that education activists argue unfairly excludes black and working-class learners from well-resourced public schools.The proposed changes seek to stop schools from recruiting the strongest applicants by banning several admission criteria.Under the new proposal, former Model C schools will be expressly forbidden from using the following parameters to rank or filter prospective students:Academic Marks: Schools can no longer use a pupil's previous academic results or report cards as a benchmark for entry.Extracurricular Records: A student's history of leadership roles, sports participation, or cultural achievements cannot be factored into the selection.Parental Proof of Employment: Schools will be prohibited from demanding employment verification or salary details from parents during the application phase.Admissions Interviews: Conducting formal interviews with applying pupils or their families will be phased out to avoid biased screening."If they [these criteria] are used to rank learners or to prefer certain learners over others in ordinary public-school admissions, that would raise serious legal and fairness concerns," said Lukhanyo Vangqa, the spokesperson for Minister Siviwe Gwarube.The proposal, this time by a Democratic Alliance minister, represents another effort by South Africa’s state education authorities and the intellectual network around the sector to further increase control over the minority of well-managed and high-performing public schools in the country..While the country’s education policy framework accords considerable powers to individual schools to manage their own affairs, there has been a long-running drive to shrink these and to bring them under bureaucratic control.Last year, for example, President Cyril Ramaphosa signed into law the Basic Education Laws Amendment Act (in the absence of the Minister of Education), which would allow MECs to override schools’ admission and language policies. This in turn comes after much visible hostility towards both “Model C” and private education.South Africa’s public education system as a whole functions dismally, and the performance of South African learners invariably comes in near the bottom of global rankings.Politically, however, the response seems to be to direct disproportionate negative attention to the islands of excellence in the broader education system.By banning top state schools from using excellence as a selection criterion, the department will likely condemn the few top-performing government schools to a slide in standards.Dr Martin van Staden, Head of Policy at the Free Market Foundation, said on X: "The whole thing is...drenched in words, phrases, and (racist) assumptions/stereotypes out of the [African National Congress] lexicon. But just like the [Democratic Alliance] won't recall rogue Steenhuisen it won't lift a finger here.".The Common Sense has contacted the minister for comment. It will be added if and when received..This article was first published by The Common Sense and is republished with permission.Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox every morning on weekdays. Register here.Support South Africa's bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here.

SA's middle class in crosshairs—DBE moves to ban screening at Model C schools

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