EVALUATION OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF EDUCATION WHITE PAPER 6 IN SELECTED FULL-SERVICE SCHOOLS IN KWAZULUNATAL

Abstract

The South African Department of Education (DoE) is still in the process of phasing in full service schools (FSS), and further development is said to be based on immediate to short-term results. Concerns surrounding the developments were whether available resources were sufficient to further expand the provision of FSS, and if the Education White Paper 6 (EWP6) had been successfully implemented in the previous phases. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the implementation of EWP6 within FSS in Kwazulu-Natal. Purposive sampling was used and the researcher selected Institutional level support team (ILST) members (n=43 participants) within FSS (n=50). Self-administered questionnaires elicited both quantitative and qualitative data which was analysed using SPSS and thematic analysis in order to address the following research questions: have policy objectives been met in the implementation of EWP6 within FSS, what are the barriers to implementing EWP6 within FSS and what strategies have ILST members used to overcome these challenges? Some schools reported successes with implementation of EWP6: enrolment of learners experiencing diverse learning barriers, ILST optimistic attitudes regarding possible benefits of inclusive education and their theoretical knowledge of multi-level teaching, whilst others reported barriers: inadequate resources, support provision to FSS/ILST and training, lack of involvement from parents and communities. If the identified gaps can be addressed, then the implementation of White Paper 6 in FSS could possibly be successful.