Getting through school in South Africa: how learners make it to the end after a poor start

By Ursula Hoadley, Professor, University of Cape Town
Carol Bertram, Professor of Education, University of KwaZulu-Natal
Gabrielle Wills, Senior researcher at Research on Socio-Economic Policy, Stellenbosch University
Servaas van der Berg, Professor of Economics and South African Research Chair in the Economics of Social Policy, Stellenbosch University

South Africa’s schooling system presents a striking paradox. Fewer than one in five grade 4 learners can read for meaning, yet more than 60% of young people (aged 15 to 24) eventually complete grade 12. Matric (school leaving exam) pass…

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