Chapter 1 maps the setting for this study. The conduct of the study, which includes an account of SACMEQ’s general approach to educational policy research, an explanation of how the instruments were constructed and the sampling process are the subject of Chapter 2. In Chapter 3 the sample learners’ characteristics and their learning environments have been described. Chapter 4 contains educators’ characteristics and their viewpoints on teaching, classroom resources, professional support and job satisfaction. School principals’ characteristics and their viewpoints on educational infrastructure, the organization and operation of schools and problems with learners and staff have been reported in Chapter 5. Issues of equity in the allocation of human and material resources among and within provinces as well as among schools have been covered in Chapter 6. Chapter 7 is an account of the Reading and Mathematics achievement levels of learners and their educators. The conclusion and the agenda for action have been presented in Chapter 8.
