After the Bell: Making the grade — how Makhanda turned the tide on educational failure

As we all know, the performance of South Africa’s education system really sucks. But not everywhere. There are places of outperformance; it’s critical to find out why and how they are outperforming.

One of those places is Makhanda (Grahamstown), where the turnaround has been so mind-boggling, the question shouts out at you: “What on earth have they done there?”

Here are the basic stats (and I’m grateful to Rhodes University Economic Professor Emeritus Gavin Keeton for bringing this to my attention):

In 2013, Makhanda’s government schools were the worst-performing in the Eastern Cape and close to the worst in all of South Africa. Only 49% of those who wrote the matric exam passed. As fewer than half of their overall age cohort wrote the exam, this means that less than one-quarter passed matric. Just 11% of those who wrote matric received the pass required for entrance to university.

These numbers are particularly dire because Makhanda is an education-focused town. In addition to Rhodes University it has three swanky private schools — St Andrews, Kingswood and DSG. The town also boasts two excellent public schools, Graeme College and Victoria Girls’ High School — which have been outperformers since year dot. The number of scholars at Makhanda’s township schools who went on to attend the university in their own town in 2013 was perhaps 10. Total.

In the past year, however, the city’s matric pass rate has increased to 82%, even though the total number of scholars who sat the exam has more or less doubled in the past five years.

And the number of university passes has increased to around 43% over the past five years, with the number of university passes at one of the township schools, Ntsika Secondary School, now matching Victoria Girls’ High School for the first time.

So, back to that crucial question: How has this extraordinary turnaround been achieved?

I had a conversation with Ashley Westaway, who leads the long-standing Makhanda-based organization called Gadra (Grahamstown Distress Relief Association). This group is well-known as the top educational nonprofit in the area. During our talk, we discovered that, unsurprisingly, there are numerous factors behind this situation.

Nonetheless, Westaway maintains that it boils down to a crucial element: galvanizing a community, encompassing strong leadership and numerous initiatives. The fact that Makhanda is a town with readily available educational resources aids this mobilization process, allowing it to function effectively.

Keeton informed me that the initiative began in 2014 with Professor Sizwe Mabizela taking up the position of vice-chancellor at Rhodes University. During his first speech, Mabizela underscored the distinctly South African inequalities present within the town and pledged the institution’s involvement in broader educational endeavors. He stated, "Rhodes should be integrated into Makhana, rather than merely being located here."

After he made his appeal, Rhodes joined forces with Gadra, who played a crucial role in developing a multi-tiered program for transforming the town’s public educational institutions.

Standout interventions

Importantly, Westaway points out, the emphasis shouldn’t solely be placed on the matric pass rate; attention must also be paid to the cohort size since these pass rates might hide an extremely high attrition rate. By concentrating not merely on the final result but on each stage and subgroup within the educational framework, the overall dynamics of education were enhanced.

Gadra has initiated two notable programs. The first one is the Nine Tenths Mentorship Program at Rhodes University, where over 100 student volunteers annually tutor matriculants from four townships' schools. These mentors assist their protégés with organizing study schedules and taking effective notes, as well as imparting essential academic abilities that are often absent in schools without tuition fees.

The programme draws its title from the renowned French author and journalist Anatole France, who famously stated, "Nine-tenths of education is encouragement." According to Keeton, the mentors offer scholars much more than academic support; they also serve as examples to emulate.

The second initiative involves the Gadra Matric School, often referred to as the Second Chance School. This program aims to provide certain students with an opportunity to retake their final school year, thereby enhancing their grades and increasing their chances of gaining admission to university or pursuing a STEM-related degree.

The school has about 300 students, and Westaway says it is here particularly that the organisation can draw on the resources in the city, using either retirees or students to do some of the teaching.

Behind all of this is transformational leadership.

The town (everyone you speak to in Makhanda calls it a “city”, but you know, let’s be real) has set itself the target of being “the leading academic education centre and city in South Africa”.

Having an explicit target is transformational because it’s not about maintaining, it’s about changing. The vision statement goes on to say Makhanda wants to be recognised as a leading educational centre and that the aim is to provide quality, relevant education at all levels. Also very transformational — deep-rooted change, not just change for appearance’s sake.

The thing about turnarounds, Westaway says, is that they are naturally self-perpetuating and enhancing. For example, people who got Gadra scholarships in the past are now participating by helping the next generation, and so on.

The situation is by no means perfect and one of Makhanda’s schools, Mary Waters High School, is a bit of a problem child. It’s a dual-language, cross-cultural school and, ironically, demonstrates the effect of outstanding leadership because it was once a higher performer before a renowned headmistress left five years ago.

What worked in Makhanda won’t necessarily work in other places in South Africa, but it does demonstrate the obvious: nothing is inevitable. There is a utility in wide, cross-sectional, coordinated action — otherwise called leadership. DM

* This article was updated from the original column to include this correction: In addition to Rhodes University it has three swanky private schools — St Andrews, Kingswood and DSG.  The town also boasts two excellent public schools, Graeme College and Victoria Girls’ High School - — which have been outperformers since year dot.