Abstract

VAN JAARSVELD, Leentjie  and  VAN DER WALT, Johannes L.. A critical look at a technologically sophisticated initiative to address the problem of unequal educational opportunities in South Africa. Educ. res. soc. change [online]. 2018, vol.7, n.2, pp.22-38. ISSN 2221-4070.  http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2221-4070/2018/v7i2a2.

A survey of the literature in connection with the current state of education in South Africa reveals a consensus that the system has remained unfair to a large section of the population, even now-two decades into the postapartheid dispensation. The education system has now developed two distinct tiers: one for the historically privileged and one for historically disadvantaged learners, the latter by far the larger of the two. In addition to measures taken by the Department of Basic Education to close the gap between these two tiers, some of the historically privileged schools have launched initiatives to help their less fortunate counterparts overcome the disparities and unfairness of the current system. This paper takes a critical look at one such initiative, a project that is technologically sophisticated and from which all historically disadvantaged schools may potentially benefit. Although the project has been well meant by its initiators, and although it already has benefited some 38 underprivileged schools since 2008, it is a stark illustration of the persistent disparities in the South African education system. The project nevertheless has transformative potential.

Keywords : critical pedagogy; education; teaching and learning; teaching-learning technology; South Africa.

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