Quality education versus sustainable development and sustainability in South Africa: scholarly perceptions

Abstract

Sustainable development and sustainability is desired across societies and nations. However, access to quality education is considered paramount for such to be ensured. This study, through the lenses of scholars, explores the link between quality education, sustainable development and sustainability, using a systematic review approach. Using different key terms, 180 publications were retrieved following the search on SABINET. However, following the application of identified inclusion and exclusion criteria, 55 articles were considered relevant for analysis. The analysed articles were coded, categorised and thematised. The findings of the study showed that factors such as collaboration, institution independence, capacity building programmes, among others are contributory to quality education and by extension sustainable development and sustainability. However, factors like lack of funding, infrastructure, leadership issues, among others hamper the desired quality education, sustainable development and sustainability. The results of the study suggest that collaboration, capacity building programmes as well as institution independence are required to ensure the provision of quality education.