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.