Abstract
Does the pursuit of equality in post-apartheid education require the removal of difference? This article examines the concepts of difference and equality by exploring two contemporary texts in political philosophy. It is argued that the pursuit of equality can and should, under certain circumstances, accommodate difference in the form of decentralisation and private schools.
Highlights
M ost political parties and movements in South Africa accept, as the outcome o f negotiations, a unitary democratic state with a common citizenship for all and a degree o f decentralisation to nine regions
Since the process o f negotiation towards a post-apartheid era began, it has been commonly assumed that in place o f an educational system based on differ ence and extreme inequalities, we will need one which tries with vigour to redress inequality
Critics o f education under apartheid emphasised the inequalities in South African education, drawing attention to differences in access and outcomes between white and black schooling
Summary
M ost political parties and movements in South Africa accept, as the outcome o f negotiations, a unitary democratic state with a common citizenship for all and a degree o f decentralisation to nine regions It is widely, not universally, agreed that a single state is needed to provide the authority and resources neces sary to initiate and control a process of redistribution o f social goods, including education, to remove historical inequalities. While the National Party government did not encourage private schooling in the period after its election victory in 1948, its policy seemed to change with the Private Schools Act of 1986 and the introduc tion o f the Clase M odels in 1990, subsequently revised, which have allowed some white schools the option o f becoming private or semi-private schools Those who favour these developments defend such schools as a means o f allow ing cultural minorities to exercise greater autonomy in the provision o f education for their children. The implications for South African education o f these two views o f equality, written about American society, will be explored
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