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Education

The focus of the content on this page is on the economics of education in Sub-Saharan Africa. Here you’ll find the most recent research publications, working papers and policy briefs produced by RESEP researchers. In some instances, this work dates back to more ten years.

An Overview of the 8th Annual QER Conference (21-22 August 2024)

From 21-22 August 2024, Resep hosted its 8th annual Quantitative Education Research (QER) conference at STIAS, Stellenbosch. Among the more than 100 attendees were academics, students, government officials, NGOs representatives and other stakeholders. Speakers, chairs and participants collectively provided an overview of key trends in South African education and profiled new research. In this synopsis of the 2-day programme, some key insights across all presentations are considered under eight emerging conference themes.

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September 16, 2024 By: Gabrielle WillsGabrielle Wills PDF

Public Expenditure on Education in South Africa, 1987/8 to 1991/2: An Analysis of the Data

This document, “Public Expenditure on Education in South Africa, 1987/8 to 1991/2: An Analysis of the Data,” provides a comprehensive review of government spending on education over a crucial five-year period. It meticulously examines the allocation and utilisation of funds within the South African education sector, offering insights into the financial priorities and policy decisions during this time.

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July 5, 2024 By: Peter Buckland and John Fielden PDF

National Education Policy Investigation: Education Planning, Systems, and Structure

This Report focuses on education and training systems and the structure of schooling. Aspects of education planning, finance, and management are discussed in both this and the separate report on Governance, and there are various aspects of the organisation of education discussed below which are specific concerns of other research group reports.

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July 5, 2024 By: Andrew Donaldson and Linda Chisholm PDF

Assessment matters: What can we understand about the National Senior Certificate results during COVID-19 from university entrance exams?

In this research note, Emma Whitelaw and Nicola Branson from the University of Cape Town (UCT), examine the association between National Senior Certificate (NSC) performance and National Benchmark Test (NBT) scores among applicants to UCT. They find that during COVID-19 disrupted years, applicants’ admission point scores, derived from NSC grades, rose relative to NBT scores which remained similar since the onset of COVID-19.

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May 25, 2024 By: Emma Whitelaw and Nicola Branson PDF

COVID-19 and inequality in reading outcomes in South Africa: PIRLS 2016 and 2021

In this Covid-Generation working paper, Bianca Böhmer and Gabrielle Wills contribute new evidence on pandemic effects on reading scores and inequalities in reading in South Africa through an in-depth analysis of data from the 2016 and 2021 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) – a Grade 4 reading comprehension assessment.

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December 23, 2023 By: Bianca Böhmer and Gabrielle Wills PDF