Identifying policy priorities to improve outcomes for poor primary school learners
Stellenbosch Policy Brief No. 03/2011Publication date: 2011
Author(s):
Socio-economic status has a significant impact on primary school learner performance. Poorer learners often suffer poor educational outcomes: They start school with a disadvantage that stays with them because they face financial, resource, infrastructure and institutional constraints. Although such broad observations should inform the basic foundations of education policy, they are not particularly useful when it comes to formulating and prioritising practical, detailed and actionable policy measures. A recent study analyses the reading and maths test scores of a set of Grade 6 school learners and identifies various key factors that affected their performance. In addition, results are broken down according to socio-economic grouping to identify those policy measures which, if implemented, will have a positive impact on educational outcomes in general, and on the performance of poor learners specifically.
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Upcoming Seminars
Monday 26 May 202512:00-13:00
Prof Simon Franklin: Queen Mary University In London
Topic: "No Place Like Home? The Causal Effect of Housing Clearances in Central Addis Ababa"
12:00-13:00
Dr Dawie van Lill: South African Reserve Bank & Stellenbosch University
Topic: "TBC"
12:00-13:00
Prof Hylton Hollander: University Of Cape Town
Topic: "TBC"
BER Weekly
16 May 2025 Trade truce lifts markets, SA braces for winter load-shedding and budget reckoningThis week, data showed that South Africa’s unemployment rate rose in 2025Q1, with net job losses compared to 2024Q4. Meanwhile, mining output improved in March but declined overall for the quarter. In the US, inflation eased to a four-year low, while Germany’s economic sentiment rebounded sharply. The UK economy posted impressive growth in Q1; however,...
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