Analysing the South African Junior Primary Education System with Agent‐based Simulation Modelling

Abstract

The state and quality of the South African education system is an increasing concern. Even more than two decades after the Apartheid era, the consequence of the segregation and discrimination is evident in the country's education system. In order to address this matter, an agent‐based simulation model with the ability to model the academic progression of grade one to four learners from various socio‐economic backgrounds, based on existing data, is proposed. The model aims to effectively simulate the academic progression of learners over a four‐year period, as well as assisting intervention planning in identifying the effect that certain social or socio‐economic intervention strategies may have on the academic progression of learners in the South African education system. The agent‐based model allows for a graphical output visualizing the academic progression of agents and the effects that the activation of certain intervention strategies have on this progression.