After three decades into democracy in South Africa, some children must still traverse considerable distances to attend schools with limited crucial teaching and learning resources. These schools lack proper facilities and expose learners to harsh weather conditions, such as severe cold during winter; these schools lack security, adequate sanitation, playing facilities, and proper infrastructure. Despite the South African Constitution's pledge to ensure equality and quality education for all children, this has yet to be realised for some learners in under-resourced schools in northern KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. This paper, employing The Conflict Theory, explores how the government's failure to enhance the standards of rural schools has perpetuated inequality and deprived rural learners of quality education and developmental learning experiences. The study utilised a systematic literature review, sampling secondary data published ten years ago. Data from the past decade provide valuable context and a recent historical perspective within the broader 30-year timeframe of South Africa's democratic transition, illustrating trends and changes leading up to the present. Data were generated from reputable academic databases and sources to answer the research question. Deductive thematic analysis was used to analyse the reviewed sources. The argument posits that neglecting remote rural schools in South Africa exacerbates inequality, poverty and unemployment. Furthermore, it contends that this neglect places learners from well-resourced schools at an advantage in the competition for employment opportunities and spots in tertiary institutions.
rural education, inequality, apartheid, transformation, democracy
Lecturer, Department of Educational Foundations, University of South Africa. Email: nyathpa@unisa.ac.za
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
This work was not supported by any funding.
Not applicable.
AI tools were not used in writing this paper.
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Cite this article:
Nyathi, P.A. (2025). Rethinking freedom: Challenges facing rural education in Northern KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. International Journal of Educational Management and Development Studies, 6(2), 1-24. https://doi.org/10.53378/ijemds.353177
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