Feeding inequality: access to equal education, feeder zones and former ‘model c’ schools

Abstract

South Africa’s basic education system remains deeply unequal, fuelled in part by the inequitable access of black and poor children to good public schools that are overwhelmingly concentrated in more affluent ‘whiter areas’. South Africa’s current legislative and policy framework has resulted in schools (those in Gauteng not included) being permitted to determine their own feeder zone criteria for admission purposes. The use of geographical proximity as a criterion in the admission policies and practices of schools belies South Africa’s history of segregation and its continued manifestation. It is inevitably black children who are disproportionately and adversely affected by the use of feeder zones. This study provides contextual background concerning the group areas and Bantu Education legacy that still endure. An account of some of the historical events that underpinned and informed the passing of the South African Schools Act, and which have ultimately led to much contestation in the sphere of school governance, including in the application of feeder zones in school admissions is provided. An analysis of the jurisprudence relating to the policy making functions of school governing bodies is also undertaken with a view to determining its implications for school zoning. This study endeavours to give legal meaning and content to the concept of ‘equitable access’ to public schooling in the South African context. The legal and policy framework relevant to feeder zones is engaged with and its impact on equitable access to schooling assessed. This study provides a narrative on the way the KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and Western Cape provincial education departments have addressed the inequalities arising from the application of feeder zones to date.