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This thesis is concerned with the implications of the new South African education system based on the South African Schools Act, No. 84 of 1996 for educational performance and learners' enrolment in public schools. Central to the argument are the unfavourable consequences of the charging of school fees at public schools for learners from poor families. This is analysed based on a survey conducted in the Durban Metropolitan area between September and November 1998. As a legacy of apartheid education, inequalities between population groups are still evident (Chapter 1). One of the aims of the Act is the redress of past inequalities and permission to charge fees at public schools is seen as a measure to supplement the resources provided by the State (Chapter 2). Implications of school fees for school finance and redress of past inequalities between ex-departments are often discussed. However, little attention has been given to the impact of charging fees on learners' enrolment, which is the main focus of this thesis. There is a contradiction between permitting the charging of fees at public schools and the insistence on compulsory attendance in the Act. Given the financial constraints of South African schools, most schools are likely to adopt school fees. There may be many learners who may not be able to afford fees. Although the Act provides measures to prevent poor learners from being refused admission, it is questionable whether the measures provided by the Act function properly in practice. There would be poor learners who are effectively excluded from advantaged schools which charge high school fees. Past inequalities would not necessarily be redressed under the new system. As a result ofthe implementation ofthe Act, a kind of semi-privatisation within the public school sector could be introduced (Chapter 3). Analysis based on the research in Durban supports these hypotheses to some degree (Chapter 4). Recent incidents regarding the refusal by some public schools to admit learners on the basis of the parents' inability to pay school fees indicate the importance of this issue. Equal access to a basic education cannot be guaranteed under the current situation. Chapter 5 presents an alternative to the current system. If the State provided all public schools with the minimum operation costs necessary to run daily activities, the school would be able to substitute voluntary contributions for school fees. One possible way to release resources for this purpose is a reduction in personnel expenditure, including an acceptance of much higher pupil/teacher ratios. Although this is a controversial issue, it is inevitable for any society to seek a more productive system if it faces financial constraints. / Thesis (M.T.R.P.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1999.

Dans le contexte actuel du Vietnam, la stabilisation de l’élan de développement, la recherche d’une meilleure qualité des ressources humaines pour un développement durable s’avèrent des éléments – clef. L’urgence est d’élever la qualité des formations en vue d’alimenter le processus de développement socio-économique du pays. C’est l’objectif poursuivi par la politique d’émulation du gouvernement vietnamien dans tous les niveaux d’enseignement. Cependant, ces dernières années, on voit apparaître deux phénomènes. Le premier, c’est l’indifférence de la majorité d’élèves qui ne s’intéressent plus à l’émulation et refusent de faire des efforts pour être membres des équipes d’élèves aux concours à tous les niveaux. Le deuxième, c’est le refus d’une partie des parents d’élèves de permettre à leurs enfants de participer aux équipes. Les objectifs fixés au départ commencent à être menacés. Le présent travail s’intéresse au système d’élite mis en place au Vietnam. Il tentera d’analyser les raisons de cette évolution et d’apporter des propositions à ce phénomène en choisissant comme angle d’attaque les quatre acteurs importants pour le succès du système d’émulation que sont les cadres éducatifs, les enseignants, les élèves et les parents d’élèves. Nous mettrons en place des enquêtes par questionnaire auprès de ces acteurs pour comprendre les répercussions psychologiques du système d’émulation actuellement en vigueur. / In the current context of Vietnam, the stabilization of the growing development, the research of a better quality in human resources for a sustainable development are key elements. The emergency is to rise up the quality of education to fuel the social and economic development process in the country. This is the objective pursued by the Vietnamese government's policy of emulation at each level of education. However, those last years, two phenomenons appeared. First of all, is the indifference coming from the majority of students who are no longer interested by the emulation and refuses to make efforts to be member of students’ competition teams at every level. Secondly, it is the refusal of a part of the student's parent to allow their kids to participate in the teams. Consequently, the objectives initially set up, start to be threatened. The current work is interested to the elite system established in Vietnam. It will try to analyze the reason of this evolution and introduce proposals to this phenomenon in targeting the four important actors for the emulation system success that are educational frameworks, teachers, students and their parents. We will establish surveys by questionnaires towards those factors to understand, to understand the psychological implications of the emulation system currently in force.

Les enfants (d') immigrés sont porteurs d'une langue et d'une culture familiales différentes de celles de la société d'arrivée et de son école. Or, la langue et la culture familiales jouent un rôle important dans le développement harmonieux de l'enfant et son « intégration » à la société d'arrivée. L'école qui doit permettre à l'enfant d'une part de se construire en tant qu'individu et d'autre part de trouver sa place dans la société où il vit, véhicule une culture différente, considérée comme légitime. Que fait-elle des langues et cultures familiales des enfants (d') immigrés? Jusque dans les années 1970, rien de particulier n'était prévu pour les enfants (d') immigrés scolarisés. Ils devaient se fondre dans la masse des élèves. Avec la mise en place d'une politique de regroupement familial, l'institution scolaire a commencé à prendre en compte ces enfants. Deux dispositifs ont été institués : des structures d'accueil pour les enfants non francophones et des enseignements de langue et culture d'origine. Cependant, si ces dispositifs constituent un premier pas dans la prise en compte des enfants (d') immigrés dans les écoles, elles restent dans une logique simultanément assimilationniste et différencialiste. Au delà de la conception de ces dispositifs, les observations effectuées dans les classes d'accueil et les cours de langue et culture d'origine de Côte d'Or ainsi que les entretiens et les enquêtes réalisées auprès des enseignants de ce département ont montré différents problèmes matériels, techniques et humains dans leur fonctionnement. Par ailleurs, la période de scolarisation joue un rôle important dans la construction des enfants et ce que l'on y enseigne marque pour longtemps. Ainsi, la place donnée aux cultures extra-occidentales ainsi que l'image de l'autre véhiculée au cours de celle-ci, en particulier par les manuels scolaires, d'une part constituent le miroir de la manière de voir l'autre plus généralement dans la société d'arrivée, et d'autre part emportera des conséquences sur le long terme, sur la société de demain. L'occidentalo-centrisme qui caractérise l'enseignement de l'histoire et de la littérature entraîne une dévalorisation/stigmatisation de l'Autre, de ses langues et de ses cultures qui est transmise aux élèves. / Immigrant(s') children are the purveyors of a family tongue and culture which differ from that of the host country and its education system, when in fact, family culture and the mother-tongue play a major role in harmonious child development and in his/her integration into society. School, which should aim at both enabling the child to establish himself/herself as a subject and finding his/her place in society, conveys a different culture, which is regarded as legitimate. What about the tongues and cultures of immigrant children? Until the 1970s, nothing specific was schemed for immigrant school children. They had to merge with the rest. Family reunification policies brought along the taking into account of these children. Two systems were introduced : childcare facilities for non-francophone children and courses in the culture and language of their country of origin. Yet, if such policies have been a first step towards the taking into account of immigrant children within education systems, they've remained within a pattern of simultaneous assimilation and differentiation. Beyond what these policies intended, the observations made in the « reception and integration » classes and language and cultural courses of Côte d'Or, along with the interviews and surveys carried out with the teachers of the county, have pointed out different practical and human problems in their very functioning. Moreover, the schooling years play an important part in the building up of children and what is taught will leave its mark for long. Thus, the importance given to overseas cultures as well as the image of the other conveyed during that time, particularly through books, constitute the mirror of the way to see the other in the host society on the one hand, and will bear long-time consequences on tomorrow's society on the other hand. The western ethnocentrism which characterizes the teaching of History and Literature leads to the stigmatization of the Other, through the tongues and cultures transmitted to students.

The Diploma thesis concerns with an issue of school attendance postponement. The theoretical part focuses on the issue of school maturity and readiness and analyses the period of child transition from a kindergarten to a primary school and the relatively high percentage of school attendance postponement. The practical part was carried out in form of a survey with three groups of respondents - parents, kindergarten teachers and primary school teachers. The aim of this part was to assess the position of parental public toward the school attendance postponement and possible children's preparation for future entry into the compulsory education. In case of the pedagogical public the central theme was a comparison of the kindergarten and primary school teachers' positions on the identical topic associated with a comparison of the most common reasons given in connection with school attendance postponement. This part was completed with a child case report of two preschool children for who the issue of granting the school attendance postponement was very current. The research carried out suggests that all groups of respondents agree with the compulsory school attendance postponement but only under the assumption that this postponement is justified. Otherwise, their positions were not as unambiguous. The...

Spatial, temporal and population dynamics have influenced learner enrolments in Vhembe District primary schools in Limpopo, South Africa. Vhembe District primary schools have in recent years experienced closure of some of its primary schools due to declining learner enrolments. The dynamics of demographic factors such as migration, fertility and mortality cause fluctuations in the school-age population over time and across space. Poor economic development, the location of the district and the spatial distribution of primary schools make the situation in this rural-based district even more complex. The communities of Vhembe District are discontent about the state of affairs in the area regarding the provision of education and the closure of schools. The closure of schools destabilises the social cohesion amongst members of the community and disempowers them, while inadequate provision of primary school education makes them feel neglected and robbed of their constitutional right. This study investigated the causes of declining learner enrolment and the effect of the closure of schools on the communities. To achieve the objectives data came from questionnaires at household level and from interviews conducted with educators, circuit managers, officials in the Limpopo Education Department and traditional leaders. The study found that declining fertility and out-migration from the area are responsible for a declining school-age population. This is the reality and the communities of Vhembe District will have to live with it because overall learner enrolments continue to decline. Lack of a planning model in the former Venda territory led to an over-supply of primary schools thus schools in close proximity had to compete for learners. Poorly equipped schools and general development of the area exacerbate the problem and some members of the community perceive education in this district to be inferior. Younger economically active people are increasingly moving to places with better opportunities. This study offers some recommendations to alleviate the problems identified in Vhembe District. Application of a geographical approach to an adaptive strategy considers the natural environment in political, social and economic context. It suggests that education authorities could apply such a strategy to make the schools in rural areas more sustainable / Geography / D. Phil. (Geography)

Spatial, temporal and population dynamics have influenced learner enrolments in Vhembe District primary schools in Limpopo, South Africa. Vhembe District primary schools have in recent years experienced closure of some of its primary schools due to declining learner enrolments. The dynamics of demographic factors such as migration, fertility and mortality cause fluctuations in the school-age population over time and across space. Poor economic development, the location of the district and the spatial distribution of primary schools make the situation in this rural-based district even more complex. The communities of Vhembe District are discontent about the state of affairs in the area regarding the provision of education and the closure of schools. The closure of schools destabilises the social cohesion amongst members of the community and disempowers them, while inadequate provision of primary school education makes them feel neglected and robbed of their constitutional right. This study investigated the causes of declining learner enrolment and the effect of the closure of schools on the communities. To achieve the objectives data came from questionnaires at household level and from interviews conducted with educators, circuit managers, officials in the Limpopo Education Department and traditional leaders. The study found that declining fertility and out-migration from the area are responsible for a declining school-age population. This is the reality and the communities of Vhembe District will have to live with it because overall learner enrolments continue to decline. Lack of a planning model in the former Venda territory led to an over-supply of primary schools thus schools in close proximity had to compete for learners. Poorly equipped schools and general development of the area exacerbate the problem and some members of the community perceive education in this district to be inferior. Younger economically active people are increasingly moving to places with better opportunities. This study offers some recommendations to alleviate the problems identified in Vhembe District. Application of a geographical approach to an adaptive strategy considers the natural environment in political, social and economic context. It suggests that education authorities could apply such a strategy to make the schools in rural areas more sustainable / Geography / D. Phil. (Geography)