The quest to decrease income inequality in South Africa relies in part, on the provision
of quality education for learners so as to improve their employment opportunities and
potential material outcomes. This study argues that if the drop-out rate of learners
persists because of poor-quality education the potential threat to human security
becomes a reality that needs to be explored. The historical legacy of poor-quality
education for the majority of black learners persists in contemporary South Africa. A
conceptual overview of the evolution of security, moves from a state-centric approach
to a broader/deeper understanding of the human security agenda where people are
the main referent for security. The focus of the study is human security and how
education inequality might impact on it, particularly as the UNDP human security
framework includes seven dimensions for security, but education, is not explicitly
specified. People need to be secured and the ‘new’ security focus is on their protection
and their empowerment. Thus, quality education is emphasised as a prerequisite for
the realisation of all human security dimensions in the South African context. The
study is theoretically grounded in the Welsh school of Critical Security Studies (CSS)
where humanity is central to the concept of security. The aim of CSS is to improve
the human condition and to eradicate injustice by radically re-conceptualising security.
The methodology incorporates an exploratory design, and a literature-based study,
and it draws on a snapshot of longitudinal secondary data from the South African
Department of Basic Education (DBE) to describe the reasons for the chronic school
drop-out rate in the country, which manifests as education inequality. It is argued that
education inequality may be a cause of human insecurity. / Mini Dissertation (MA (Security Studies))--University of Pretoria 2020. / Political Sciences / MA (Security Studies) / Unrestricted
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:up/oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/78279 |
| Date | January 2020 |
| Creators | Blake, Michelle Louise |
| Contributors | Africa, Sandy, blakemichelle22@gmail.com |
| Publisher | University of Pretoria |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Mini Dissertation |
| Rights | © 2019 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. |
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