Inequalities and education in South Africa: A scoping review

The pervasive issue of global inequality has been exemplified in South Africa, where a unique historical trajectory has led to remarkable disparities. The origins of these inequalities can be traced to the historical development of South Africa, reflecting the lasting impacts of colonialism and apartheid. The entrenched colonialism and apartheid systems have left an indelible mark, resulting in a significant sociological, psychological, legal, educational, political, economic, and technological imbalance within South Africa. We conducted this scoping review to present the latest academic and scholarly discourse on inequality and education in South African secondary schools. By employing the PRISMA-ScR approach to implement inclusion and exclusion criteria, we have curated a selection of 21 peer-reviewed publications. These articles, written in English, analyse the inequality and education in South Africa from 2000 to 2023. Although few studies on inequality and education have been identified, the reviewed articles provide in-depth insights into the current issues in South African secondary schools. The reviewed studies show that educational inequalities are still persistent in SA secondary schools. They also reflect persistent and profound influence of apartheid, which is intricately interwoven with the evolving contours of inequality. This is manifested in the form of amplified disparities, unmet promises of reparations, and resistance to efforts aimed at rectification. These elements are shown collectively highlighting the complex and multifaceted nature of the challenges that lie ahead in addressing the legacy of apartheid.