This study was motivated by the claims that rural, low income, and disadvantaged communities in South Africa could be facing challenges accessing equitable and quality education which threatens the country’s commitment to meet its Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)-4 by 2030. The purpose of this study was to compare the impact of non-government philanthropic primary school against quintile one government primary schools in the provision of equitable and quality education in marginalised communities in the KwaZulu-Natal province in South Africa.
The sample size comprised of 27 respondents drawn from non-government philanthropic primary school, and seven randomly selected quintile one government primary schools in the same geographical area. A convergent mixed methods “triangulation” research approach was adopted utilising both qualitative, and quantitative data from the sampled population. Both random, and purposive sampling techniques were employed to select the study respondents. The data were collected using survey questionnaires, interview guide, and an observation check-list. The quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics on PSPP and the qualitative data were transcribed and analysed using the first and second cycles of coding and thematic analysis on Taguette.
The findings demonstrated that the non-government philanthropic primary school has a positive impact on providing equitable and quality education to the population it serves. The findings demonstrate that other salient aspects included teacher retention included modes of teacher training, teacher turnover, infrastructure, students’ behaviour, and strategies for students’ well-being, community engagement, and using education as a tool of social justice.
Therefore, it was concluded that the NGO School had a positive impact on providing better school choice through the provision of equitable and quality education in the community. It was recommended that the South African government should allocate adequate funds to the quintile one primary schools to ensure access to equitable and quality education to the disadvantaged communities. There should be equity in allocating funds to schools serving both rural and urban communities to equalise educational conditions in terms of infrastructure, scholastic materials, school environment, and staffing levels.