The quintile classification system in South African education, introduced in 1998, has entrenched privilege and inequality rather than promoting equity. Recent 2025 parliamentary testimony highlights severe underfunding of no-fee schools, exacerbating divides between affluent and under-resourced institutions. Critics argue this mechanism reproduces economic hierarchies under the guise of meritocracy.
Formalized through the 1998 National Norms and Standards for School Funding, the quintile system aimed to redistribute resources by allowing wealthier schools to charge fees, thereby reducing their reliance on public funds. However, it has transformed public education into a competitive market, where historically privileged schools maintain small class sizes, well-resourced facilities, and robust programs through enrolment caps and fee structures.
In contrast, schools serving working-class communities face overcrowded classrooms, inadequate infrastructure, and limited materials. Privileged institutions often refuse cross-school collaborations, preserving exclusive access to resources and perpetuating inequalities the system was designed to address.
Parliamentary oversight in 2025 revealed stark dysfunctions. The Portfolio Committee on Basic Education heard testimony that provinces are underfunding no-fee schools at only 48-54% of the national threshold. Despite backlogs affecting over 13.5 million learners, only 35 classrooms and 50 sanitation facilities were built for the 2025/26 period. The Department of Basic Education also surrendered R112-million in operational funds.
Budget disparities are glaring: a Quintile 1 school operates on R1.54-million annually, or about R1,860 per learner, with a mere 1.6% increase from 2024 to 2025—below inflation. Elite schools, by comparison, manage budgets nearing R40-million, a 26-fold difference.
This setup, influenced by market logic and decentralized governance via school governing bodies (SGBs), amplifies historical apartheid-era exclusions. Former Model C schools benefit from expert SGBs, while Quintile 1-3 schools lack capacity due to past dispossession.
South Africa allocates around 6% of GDP to education, one of the highest globally, yet issues stem from misallocation, corruption in procurement, and structural flaws. The author, drawing from personal experience teaching in privileged schools, calls for reforms like individual poverty assessments, capacity building, and transparent funding to foster genuine equity.
As Pamela Christie notes in 'Decolonising Schools in South Africa: The Impossible Dream,' this system extends colonial legacies through economic means, echoing Pierre Bourdieu's concept of cultural capital as a tool for opportunity hoarding.