Social Policy: Education
Econ and Dev Problems in SSA
17 April 2012
Nicholas Spaull
nicspaull.com/research
nicholasspaull@gmail.com
Social Policy & Education
Education
Firstly, what is social policy?
“Social policy primarily refers to the guidelines, principles, legislation and
activities that affect the living conditions conducive to human welfare”
“Public policy and practice in the areas of health care, human services,
criminal justice, inequality, education, and labour”
“Social Policy is defined as actions that affect the well-being of members
of a society through shaping the distribution of and access to goods and
resources in that society”
Social Policy & Education
Education
• Secondly, how does education fit into it?
– Most areas of social policy influence education (in some way), and are
influenced by education (in some way)
– Bidirectional causality 
– Multiple benefits of education…
Ed
Benefits of education
H
S
Education
E
c
$
Society
Improved human rights
Empowerment of women
Reduced societal violence
Promotion of a national (as
opposed to regional or ethnic)
identity
Increased social cohesion
Health
Lower fertility
Improved child health
Preventative health care
Demographic transition
Economy
Improvements in productivity
Economic growth
Reduction of inter-generational
cycles of poverty
Reductions in inequality
Specific references: lower fertility (Glewwe, 2002), improved child health (Currie, 2009), reduced societal violence (Salmi, 2006), promotion of a national
- as opposed to a regional or ethnic - identity (Glewwe, 2002), improved human rights (Salmi, 2006), increased social cohesion (Heyneman, 2003),
Economic growth – see any decent Macro textbook, specifically for cognitive skills see (Hanushek & Woessman 2008)
Social Policy & Education
Education
• Secondly, how does education fit into it?
– Education itself affects society & the individual in real and meaningful
ways:
• Transforms individual capabilities, values, aspirations and desires (see Sen)
• Allows individuals to think, feel and act in different ways
• Enables new ways of organizing and supporting social action that depend on
numeracy and literacy, technologies of communication and abstract thinking skills
(Lewin, 2007). Democratic participation, knowledge creation etc.
• Education increases peoples ability to add value (productivity)
• “Modernising societies use educational access and attainment as a primary
mechanism to sort and select subsequent generations into different social and
economic roles” (Lewin, 2007: 3) Distribution of income
Theory: Human Capital
Education
Education increases peoples ability to add value (productivity)  HCM
+
Man

=
Skills & health
Incr MP of L

Incr profits
Incr wage
“The failure to treat human resources explicitly as a form of capital, as a produced means of
production, as the product of investment, has fostered the retention of the classical notion of
labour as a capacity to do manual work requiring little knowledge and skill, a capacity with
which, according to this notion, labourers are endowed about equally. This notion of labour
was wrong in the classical period and it is patently wrong now. Counting individuals who can
and want to work and treating such a count as a measure of the quantity of an economic
factor is no more meaningful than it would be to count the number of all manner of
machines to determine their economic importance” (Schultz, 1961, p. 3).
Theory: Sorting & signalling
Education
• Education does not improve productivity or produce HC,
instead acts as a signal of innate productivity/IQ/motivation.
– Those with higher productivity/IQ/motivation will find it easier to get
higher levels of education than those with lower P/IQ/M
• Do we care if it is HCM or Signalling?
– Yes! Implications for public investment.
Elusive equity
Education
• Given the strong links between education and income, educational
inequality is a fundamental determinant of income inequality.
• Clear need to understand SA educational inequality if we are to
understand SA income inequality.
• High inequality + unemployment 2 of the most severe problems facing SA
– Educational quality is intimately intertwined with both of these.
• “Education shall be free, compulsory, universal and equal for all children”
(Freedom Charter)
Elusive equity
Education
Quality of
education
Duration
of
education
Type of
education
SA is one of the
top 3 most
unequal
countries in
the world
Between 78%
and 85% of
total inequality
is explained by
wage
inequality
Wages
• IQ
• Motivation
• Social
networks
• Discrimination
Theory – education in SA
Education
SES at birth
•Type of tertiary education
(quality) - institution and
field of study
•Demand and supply
•Individual motivation
Cognitive
ability in
early
childhood
Labour
market
performance
•Parental IQ (assortative
mating)
•Maternal health
•Nutrition
•Early cognitive
stimulation: preschool
(quantity & quality), home
environment
South
Africa
•Cost of tertiary education
(explicit & implicit costs)
•Parental & personal
aspirations and
perceptions
•Society/culture
Ultimate
educational
attainment
and quality
Educational
performance
in early
school years
•Average school SES
•Language of learning &
teaching (LOLT)
•Teacher quality
•Peer effects
•Subject choice
Educational
achievement
in matric
(See Taylor, 2010)
Education
SES at birth
Cognitive
ability in
early
childhood
Labour
market
performance
South
Africa
Ultimate
educational
attainment
and quality
Educational
performance
in early
school years
70%
Educational
achievement
in matric
60%
50%
40%
Pass Matric
30%
Maths passes
20%
Endorsements
10%
0%
Blacks
Coloureds
Indians
Whites
Total
HG Maths
passes
A-aggregates
For UK
Intergenerational poverty
Education
Ideal world (AKA Finland  )
1. Means blind
– Ideally, an education system should be
‘means blind’ in that it offers equal
educational opportunities to all
students.
2.
Meritocratic
– Ideally, an individuals success at
school (and later in the labour-market)
should depend on ability and effort
not class or wealth.
• In SA, neither of these criteria are
met. Low quality education is a
poverty trap.
Low
quality
education
Low
social
mobility
Hereditary
poverty
SA educational inequality
Education
Two education systems not one
Education
.025
.02
.015
.01
.005
Density
• Mean >> median
• Average SA student does not exist in any
meaningful sense. Most average figures
overestimate what the majority of SA
students can do
Ex-Department
NSES Gr 4 (Taylor, 2011)
0
Language
PIRLS Gr 5 (Shepherd, 2011)
0
20
40
60
Numeracy score 2008
100
Historically white schools
Socioeconomic status
SACMEQ Gr 6 (Spaull, 2011)
.0 04
0
0
.0 02
.001
.002
D en sity
.003
.0 06
.004
.0 08
.005
Ex-DET/Homelands schools
80
0
200
400
reading test score
African language schools
600
800
0
200
400
600
Learner Reading Score
800
English/Afrikaans schools
Poorest 25%
Second poorest 25%
Second wealthiest 25%
Wealthiest 25%
1000
Educational inequality
Education
Taylor, 2011
Average White Gr3 student knows more than the
average Black Gr5 student (wrote same test).
Does this mean more resources is the answer?
Yamauchi, 2011
Resources the issue?
Education
More reading
textbooks


More maths
textbooks
 $79/pupil
 $1225/pupil
Distribution of functional illiteracy and innumeracy by country and province
50
SACMEQ III
Education
LMP
40
TET
ECA
30
NIA
SOF
S
CAB
KZN
MPU
MAN
NAM
FST
NWP
NCA
20
M
OMU
OSH
ZAM
HAR
OHA
SOU
CAP
10
GTN
WES
SOC
BCES
CEN
KUN
KAR
INH
SHN
NOR
KHO
WCA
KAV
N
OMA
GAZ
MAP
ERO
OTJ
CID
GAB
10
20
30
40
50
Proportion functionally innumerate
Botswana & provinces
Mozambique & provinces
Namibia & provinces
South Africa & provinces
60
70
Public Current expenditure on
Country
Total population Adult literacy
(mil)
rate
Net Enrolment
Rate (2008)
GNP/cap PPP primary education per pupil (unit
US$ (2008)
cost) 2007 – [PPP constant 2006
US$]
Education
Survival rate to
Grade 5: school
year ending 2007
Botswana
1.92
83%
87%
13100
1228
89%3
Mozambique
22.38
54%
80%
770
792
60%
Namibia
2.13
88%
89%
6270
668
87%3
South Africa
49.67
89%
87%
9780
1225
98%
(UNESCO, 2011)
(UNESCO, 2011)
(UNESCO, 2011)
(UNESCO, 2011)
(UIS, 2009)
(UNESCO, 2011)
Source
SACMEQ III
(2007)
Self-reported teacher
absenteeism
Proportion of Grade 6
students functionally
illiterate
Proportion of Grade 6
students functionally
innumerate
Proportion of students Proportion of students
with own reading
with own mathematics
textbook
textbook
Botswana
10.6 days
10.62%
22.48%
63%
62%
Mozambique
6.4 days
21.51%
32.73%
53%
52%
Namibia
9.4 days
13.63%
47.69%
32%
32%
South Africa
19.4 days
27.26%
40.17%
45%
36%
Education
Education
Questions,
conclusions &
recommendations
Questions
Education
• If not the quality of education, what is the
driving force behind income inequality?
• Why is it so difficult to change educational
outcomes? (18 years since 1994!)
• What are the key interactions between
education and health/social-security?
Conclusion?
Education
• What do you think are the most important
points you’ve heard today?
Conclusion
Education
Persistent patterns of poverty and
privilege
Low
quality
education
Low
social
mobility
Hereditary
poverty
• Educational inequality is at the heart of income inequality and
poverty
– Increasing wages for the majority of Black labour market entrants is
necessary to lower income inequality
– This is not possible without improving the quality of education they
receive
• SA has 2 education systems not one
– Implications for reporting (means are misleading)
– Implications for policy
• SA cannot convert material advantage into cognitive skills
– Inefficient use of resources
Suggestions
Education
 Get the basics right
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Teachers need to be in school teaching
Every child (teacher) needs access to adequate learning (teaching) materials
Every school should meet basic sanitation and health requirements
Every child should receive one year of adequate quality preschool education
No child should be hungry at school (for social & cognitive reasons)
Continuous diagnostic testing to figure out what children actually know
Make sure that the curriculum is tailored to the educational needs of the majority of
students, not the top 15%
Every student MUST master the basics of foundational numeracy and literacy – these
are the building blocks of further education – weak foundations = recipe for disaster
SA is a middle income country which spends 20% (!) of all government
expenditure on education – this is not rocket science.
[ANA’s and workbooks are a very good sign – (but) need consistency and
time]
Suggestions
Education
 Acknowledge the extent of the problem
• Low quality education is one of the three largest crises facing our country (along
with HIV/AIDS and unemployment). Need the political will and public support for
widespread reform.
 Experiment to figure out what works
• More of the same hasn’t worked  Need to try new things and rigorously evaluate
them to see what works.
– Workbooks & ANA’s are a positive sign (Workbook delivery?)
– Failed programmes provide useful information when acknowledged & disseminated.
• Leave existing salaries the same but pay good teachers more – why not?
 Increase accountability, information & transparency
• Where is the money going?
• Deal ruthlessly with corruption – this is a social crime.
• For at least one grade (Gr6?) get ANA externally validated by an independent body
like Umalusi and get this information to parents  need to empower parents with
information in an accessible format
References
Education
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Becker, G. (1962). Investment in Human Capital: A Theoretical Analysis. The Journal of Political Economy, 70(5), 9-49.
Currie, J. (2009). Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise: Socioeconomic Status, Poor Health in Childhood, and Human Capital
Development. Journal of Economic Literature, 47(1), 87-122.
Donalson, A. (1992). Content, Quality and Flexibility: The Economics of Education System Change. Spotlight 5/92.
Johannesburg: South African Institute of Race Relations.
Fleisch, B. (2008). Primary Education in Crisis: Why South African schoolchildren underachieve in reading and mathematics.
Cape Town. : Juta & Co.
Hanushek, E. & Woessmann, L. (2008). The Role of Cognitive Skills in Economic Development. Stanford Institute for Economic
Policy Research Working Paper No. 07-34.
Hoadley, U. (2010). What do we know about teaching and learning in primary schools in South Africa? Stellenbosch:
Appendix B to Van der Berg, S; Meyer, H; Reeves, C; van Wyk, C; Hoadley, U; Bot, M; & Armstrong, P 2010. 'Grade 3
Improvement Project: Main report and Recommendations" for Western Cape Education Department.
Schultz, T. (1961). Investment in Human Capital. The American Economic Review , 51 (1), 1-17.
Shepherd, D. (2011). Constraints to School Effectiveness: What prevents poor schools from delivering results? Stellenbosch
Economic Working Papers 05/11.
Spaull, N. (2011). Primary School Performance in Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia and South Africa: A Comparative Analysis
of SACMEQ III. SACMEQ Working Papers , 1-74.
Taylor, S. (2011). Uncovering Indicators of Effective School Management in South Africa using the National School
Effectiveness Study. Stellenbosch Economic Working Papers .
Van der Berg, S. (2007). Apartheid's Enduring Legacy: Inequalities in Education. Journal of African Economies, 16(5), 849-880.
Education
Thank you
www.nicspaull.com/research
nicholasspaull@gmail.com
@NicSpaull