Failing Grade 1: South African Children's First Encounters with School*

Abstract

Since educational statistics were first collated in South Africa, more than 30 years ago, roughly a quarter of children from the majority groups of the nation have failed Grade 1 each year. This represents one of the highest Grade 1 wastage rates in the world. This paper examines the assumed correlates of early school failure, and then pieces together a mosaic of information from a variety of sources, which calls much of this received wisdom into question. The paper provides evidence that confirms the existence of a substantial home-school divide for these children, demonstrable in the contexts and conditions under which learning takes place at home and at school, and also calls into question whether the sorts of qualities which children might need to succeed in Grade 1 are in fact the sorts of qualities which it would be wise for educationists to nurture.