Many South African school children are known to travel fairly long distances to school each day, in pursuit of the best possible educational opportunities in a schooling system that is known to vary greatly in quality. This thesis documents the dimensions and determinants of the daily, education-related travel of primary school aged children in Johannesburg-Soweto, South Africa. It uses data on a sample of 1428 children drawn from the Birth to Twenty cohort study to provide the first population-based data on the extent of learner mobility in contemporary urban South Africa. Learner mobility is measured in three different ways: firstly by the straight line distance between a child‘s home and his or her school; secondly by whether the child‘s school falls into the same geographical area as his or her home; and thirdly by whether the child attends his or her nearest, grade-appropriate school. The thesis provides clear evidence for extensive mobility using all three of these approaches to measurement. Over 25% of children were found to be travelling more than 5km each way to school and back on a daily basis. Almost 60% of children attended a school outside of the Census 2001 Sub-Place (roughly equivalent to a suburb) in which they lived, and fewer than 20% of children attended the grade-appropriate school nearest to their home. Counter to expectations, these figures were fairly stable over time, suggesting that educational mobility does not increase substantially as children age or transition to high school. Mobile children attended significantly more well-resourced and well-performing schools than their non-mobile peers, and the quality of schools attended increased with distance travelled. This substantiates the assumption that children and families make use of educational mobility to improve the quality of education that they are able to access. The analyses presented in the thesis suggest that two distinct patterns of mobility, with different determinants, are in use in the Johannesburg-Soweto area. The first relates primarily to travel from townships to historically advantaged schools in suburban Johannesburg, and typically requires substantial economic investment and extensive parental involvement. The second form of mobility operates at a more local level, and relates to children and families making choices between a number of relatively local schools. This form of mobility is less resource intensive. Children engaging in the first form of mobility were more likely to attend a particularly advantaged school, and to have a well-educated mother. By contrast, children engaged in the second form of mobility were more likely to live in a disadvantaged area, and come from households with moderate SES levels. iv The findings of this thesis provide important insights into the nature of school choice in South Africa, which have implications for educational policy, and the understanding of the nature of urban poverty as experienced by South African children. They also contribute to the international school choice literature, by providing novel information about the implications of relatively unregulated school choice for educational inequality and segregation in the South African context.

The aim of this study was to determine the impact that learner mobility has on teaching and learning. Although many factors affect teaching and learning, these factors need to be looked at in the context of the present situation. In South Africa, parents have freedom of choice to quality schools for their children in any area. The quest for quality schools has led to an unexpected increase in learner mobility around the country. Despite this, learners have to travel long distances to and from school daily which has an effect on learning and teaching. The researcher applied a qualitative research approach using an exploratory case study. Data was collected at only one secondary school by interviewing learners, educators, a School Management Team member and parents. Findings indicate that learner mobility has a direct and indirect impact on learning and teaching. Directly it results in exhaustion, increased late-coming, poor effort, poor results and bad behaviour of learners as well as frustration and demotivation of educators. Indirectly management of the school becomes difficult and there is also a lack of parental involvement in learners schooling. The outcomes of this study provided valuable awareness of the effects learners mobility has on learning and teaching. For quality education to be effective, it needs to be available at the learner’s doorstep. / Die doel van hierdie studie was om die invloed van leerders se mobiliteit op hulle onderrig en leer te bepaal. Die talle faktore wat onderrig en leer tans beïnvloed, moet ondersoek word. In Suid-Afrika kan ouers hulle kinders na ʼn goeie skool in enige gebied stuur. Die gewildheid van goeie skole het landswyd ʼn onverwagte toename in leerdermobiliteit tot gevolg gehad. Die groot afstande wat leerders elke dag skool toe en huis toe moet reis, het ʼn uitwerking op hulle onderrig en leer. Die navorser het ʼn kwalitatiewe navorsingsbenadering gevolg en ʼn verkennende gevallestudie onderneem. Data is by slegs een sekondêre skool versamel deur onderhoude met leerders, onderwysers, ʼn lid van die skoolbestuur en ouers te voer. Daar is bevind dat hul mobiliteit leerders se onderrig en leer sowel regstreeks as onregstreeks benadeel. Hulle mobiliteit lei regstreeks daartoe dat leerders moeg is, meer en meer laat kom, hulle skoolwerk afskeep, swak gedrag openbaar, en dat hulle punte teleurstel. Dit frustreer onderwysers en maak hulle moedeloos. Die onregstreekse nadeel van leerdermobiliteit is dat dit die bestuur van die skool bemoeilik. Daarbenewens is ouers nie by hulle kinders se skoolopleiding betrokke nie. Hierdie studie bevorder ʼn bewustheid van die nadele wat leerdermobiliteit vir onderrig en leer inhou. Goeie onderrig raak ondoeltreffend as die skool ver van die leerder se huis af is. / Sepheo sa phuputso ene ele ho fumana tshusumetso eo ho kgona ho tsamaya habonolo le ka ka ho lokoloha ha baithuti ho nang le hona ho ithuteng le ho ruteng. Leha ele hore ho na le mabaka a mangata a amang ho ithuta le ho ruta, mabaka ana a lokela ho shejwa maemong a boemo ba hajwale. Mona Afrika Borwa, batswadi ba na le tokoloho ya ho kgetha dikolo tsa boleng bakeng sa bana ba bona sebakeng sefe kapa sefe. Tabatabelo ya dikolo tsa boleng e lebisitse ho keketseho e sa lebellwang ya ho kgona ho tsamaya habonolo le ka ho lokoloha ha baithuti ho potoloha le naha. Ho sa tsotellehe sena, baithuti ba tlameha ho tsamaya maeto a malelele ho ya le ho kgutla sekolong letsatsi le letsatsi, e leng se nang le phello ho ho ithuta le ho ruta. Mobatlisisi o sebedisitse mokgwa wa boleng wa dipatlisiso ka ho sebedisa phuputso e ikgethang e hlalosang. Datha e ile ya bokellwa sekolong se le seng se bohareng ka ho botsa baithuti, matitjhere, setho sa moifo wa tsamaiso ya sekolo le batswadi dipotso. Diphumano di bontsha hore ho tsamaya habonolo le ka ho lokoloha ha baithuti ho na le tshusumetso e tobileng le e sa tobang ho ho ithuta le ho ruta. Ka tsela e tobileng,e lebisa ho mokgathala, ho fihla kamora nako ho eketsehileng, boiteko bo fokolang, diphetho tse seng hantle le boitshwaro bo bobe ba baithuti hammoho le ho nyahama le ho fokotseha ha boikemisetso ho matitjhere. Ka tsela e sa tobang, tsamaiso ya sekolo e ba thata mme ho ba le kgaello ya bonkakarolo ba batswadi ho ithuteng ha baithuti. Diphetho tsa phuputso ena di fana ka tlhokomediso ya bohlokwa eo diphello tsa ho tsamaya habonolo le ka ho lokoha ha baithuti di nang le tsona ho ithuteng le ho ruteng. Hore thuto ya boleng e be e atlehileng, e lokela ho fumaneha monyako wa moithuti. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / M. Ed. (Curriculum Studies)