Education is supposed to be at the leading edge of South Africa's transformation into a multi-racial society with equal opportunity for all.

But there is a huge gap between the dreams of the policy makers and reality.

In the apartheid era, education for black children was downgraded.

Now, four years after the country's first multi-racial elections, class sizes remain unmanageable, standards are questionable and infrastructure is poor. Such is the pressure on funds that printers are complaining that cuts in the purchase of text books is going to put them out of business.

Headteacher Sisco Komane says that thefts from the school are denting teachers' morale

At Botibelo School in the rural north-west of the country, more than 1,200 children share just two toilets.

In common with many other South African schools, it has thrown away its apartheid-era textbooks but is unable to afford the materials to teach the new curriculum.

The headteacher of Botibelo School, Sisco Komane, says that teachers' morale is being further dented by the theft of furniture from the school, usually by pupils' parents.

Each week, Mr Komane tours the local area, looking for school property in people's homes.

"In each in every 10 houses, six of them have the school property," he said.

But the children who flock each day to Botibelo School for lessons seem to understand the importance of education.

"You can't do anything without education," said one boy.