A needle in a haystack: a search for value for money in turn-around strategies for schools in difficult circumstances

Abstract

Background While current investments in school improvement occur in the context of the worldwide economic downturn, in the South African context, there is in addition widespread disparity in education provision and attainment related to pre-democracy race-based patterns. Despite the education sector receiving the largest national annual budget allocation (at least 20%), and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the business sector and even international aid agencies spending millions on school improvement projects, efforts at school improvement have not translated into the desired learning outcomes for students (reflected, for instance, in international comparison tests like TIMSS). This situation calls for deliberation on what constitutes ‘value for money’ in school improvement. Purpose In this paper we present a review of school improvement interventions in South Africa, with a view to discussing their efficiency and effectiveness in the local context. Design and methods The review of school improvement interventions in South Africa involved a systematic search of published and unpublished reports of South African schooling interventions, by both national education agencies and NGOs, aimed at improving the quality of schooling. Desktop searches were conducted on Google Scholar, targeting journals published in the last 10 years (2002 to 2011). Information on unpublished interventions was derived from sources outside of academic documents (e.g. annual reports and personal communications). Snowball sampling was used to reach as many projects as possible, starting from interventions in Johannesburg, which is the most populous city and economic centre of South Africa. Fifty published reports and 75 unpublished reports were reviewed. The information from each report was entered on a spreadsheet according to the aspects of schooling the intervention addressed. The data were then summarised using descriptive statistics and graphs. Conclusions Evidence from the review suggests that in the South African context, where access and equity in education are yet to be achieved for the majority of the population, ‘value for money’ is achieved most effectively when there is ‘connectedness’ across sectors (especially education, health and social services), and when value is in terms of gains for the whole of society or the common good.