A Study On Pre-school Education Policy In New South Africa

In 1994, South Africa ended apartheid and a new South Africa established through democratic elections, followed by a series of education reforms. After 20 years of reform and exploration, preschool education policies in South Africa are mostly complete and children’s education and care in preschool has greatly improved, especially the vulnerable children. Preschool education policies and elementary education reforms are effectively linked up. It promotes not only the process of democratization of education but also the process of EFA in South Africa.Based on the introduction, this study firstly presented the backgrounds of preschool education policies formulation in new South Africa. Then it analyzes and summaries the policy development, especially the policies in the 21st century. Thirdly, it analyzes and summarizes the main contents of the policies into four areas in detail. They are preschool students policy, teachers policy, curriculum policy and funding for education policy.The difficult point of this paper is about how to appropriately evaluate South African preschool education policies. The policies have some common characteristics including law making, equality, and scientific research. However, there are some problems that affect the development of preschool education.The development of preschool education in South Africa is based on the government’s domination. The development of vulnerable children is supported by the idea of Inclusive Education. In the process of policy-making, all the government departments coordinate and cooperate to ensure the implementation of preschool education policies. Even the development of preschool education in South Africa goes through twists and turns, the experience can provide reference to China.