Since the end of apartheid in 1994, the transformation of education at every level - from pre-school to tertiary - has been a key priority of the ANC government. This collection of essays represents the most comprehensive attempt of the post-apartheid era to provide a social commentary through analysis of educational changes and to assess their impact or otherwise on the process of social change.

Chapters focus on such as the decentralisation of school control; the process of racially integrating schools; early childhood education; teacher education; teacher unions; technical and vocational education; worker education; educational NGOs, new forms of assessment; qualification and certification, the restructuring of higher education and the research funding of higher education. Contributors include senior HSRC researchers, academics and veterans of the anti-apartheid struggles in the realm of education.