Factors Impacting Provisioning of Learner Textbooks in Tshwane North District Schools, Gauteng Province, South Africa

In line with the National Norms and Standards for School Funding, the Education Ministry in the country allocates annually a large percentage of the financial resources to disadvantaged schools. However, literature indicates that many schools, particularly the historically disadvantaged ones, continue to function without adequate textbooks. Hence, this paper sets out to investigate the factors impacting the acquisition and provisioning of leaner textbooks in schools. Qualitative research was employed. Three (n = 3) schools were purposively sampled based on the learner textbook reports submitted to the District Office. From each school, one-on-one semi-structured interviews were conducted with five participants. Data analysis revealed that participating schools are characterized by chronic shortages of learner textbooks. We argue that the inadequacy of textbooks in schools is caused by inadequate state funding, the procurement and management process which make schools prone to wasteful and fruitless expenditure, and the inability of schools to retrieve textbooks from learners. We recommend that the state funding model to schools should be flexible to cover all the admitted learners in schools, and education authorities must ensure that schools comply with proper stock management and procurement process.