Education in South

Africa
Page issues

School children in Cape Town

Education in South Africa is governed by

two national departments, namely the
department of Basic Education (DBE),
which is responsible for primary and
secondary schools, and the department of
Higher Education and Training (DHET),
which is responsible for tertiary education
and vocational training. Prior to 2009,
these two departments were represented
in a single Department of Education.

The DBE department deals with public

schools, private schools (also referred to
by the department as independent
schools), early childhood development
(ECD) centres, and special needs schools.
The public schools and private schools are
collectively known as ordinary schools,
and comprise roughly 97% of schools in
South Africa.

The DHET department deals with further

education and training (FET) colleges,
adult basic education and training (ABET)
centres, and higher education (HE)
institutions.

The nine provinces in South Africa also

have their own education departments
that are responsible for implementing the
policies of the national department, as
well as dealing with local issues.

In 2010, the basic education system

comprised 12 644 208 learners, 30 586
schools, and 439 394 teachers.[1] In 2009,
the higher education and training system
comprised 837 779 students in HE
institutions, 420 475 students in state-
controlled FET institutions and 297 900 in
state-controlled ABET centres.[2]

In 2013, the South African government

spent 21% of the national budget on
education, Some ten percent of the
education budget is for higher education.

Structure and policies

The department of Basic Education is
headed by the director-general Hubert
Mathanzima Mweli, and its policy is made
by the minister Angie Motshekga and the
deputy minister Enver Surty. The
department of Higher Education and
Training is headed by the director-general
Mary Metcalfe, and its policy is made by
the minister Naledi Pandor and the deputy
minister Buti Manamela.

Both these departments are funded from

central government taxes. The department
of Basic Education pays a portion of
teachers' salaries in government schools,
whereas independent schools are funded
privately. Government schools may under
certain circumstances supplement their
funds through parent contributions.
Basic education system
(primary and secondary
schools)
The DBE officially groups grades into two
"bands" called General Education and
Training (GET), which includes grade 0
plus grades 1 to 9, and Further Education
and Training (FET), which includes grades
10-12 as well as non-higher education
vocational training facilities.

The GET (General Education and Training

band) is subdivided further into "phases"
called the Foundation Phase (grade 0 plus
grade 1 to 3), the Intermediate Phase
(grades 4 to 6), and the
Senior Phase (grades 7
to 9).

The administrative
structure of most
ordinary schools in
South Africa do not
reflect the division of
bands and phases,
however. For historical
reasons, most schools
are either "primary"
schools (grade R plus
grades 1 to 7) or "secondary" schools, also
known as high schools (grades 8 to 12).
Optional grades

Some home schools and private schools

offer the option to complete an additional
year after grade 12, sometimes known as
grade 13 or "post-matric". The South
African governmental school system does
not have a grade 13, but it forms part of
non-South African curriculums that are
sometimes followed by private schools in
South Africa.[3][4]

The DBE's Foundation Phase includes a

pre-school grade known as grade R, for
"reception". Grade R is compulsory, but not
all primary schools offer grade R. Grade R
may also be attended at pre-school
facilities. Other grades that can be
completed at a pre-school centre include
grade 00 and grade 000 (although the 000
and 00 designations are not universally
applied). Grade R is sometimes called
Grade 0 (pronounced "grade nought"),[5][6]
particularly in previously white schools,
where the usage was once common.

Learner ratios

According to the DBE's 2010 statistics

report (published in 2012), on average
there are 30 learners per teacher, 480
learners per school, and 16 teachers per
school. The ratio of learners per teacher is
roughly the same in all provinces, but the
ratio of learners per school varies per
province. For example, in Gauteng there
are 800 learners per school and 28
teachers per school, whereas in the
Eastern Cape there 350 learners per
school and 12 teachers per school.

Updated 2013 statistics (published in

2015) is available.[7]

School income and expenses

Schools in South Africa receive a grant

from government for their operational
costs, such as maintaining the grounds,
administrative costs, salaries, books and
educational materials, and extramural
activities. Most schools supplement the
government grant with other streams of
income, such as school fees paid by
parents, fundraising events, and receiving
donations. Generally, higher school fees
prevent poorer children from attending
affluent schools. There is no limit to the
amount of the fees that a school may set.
Parents may apply to the school for full or
partial reduction of school fees, and many
affluent schools do provide financial
assistance to a small number of learners
(for example, if the parents are alumni),
but it is not a legal requirement.[8][9]

Children at South African schools are

usually required to wear school uniforms,
which can be expensive and are not
provided for free, although it is often
possible to buy them second-hand. Most
schools offer extra mural activities such
as a variety of sports and cultural
activities, which requires money to
maintain. Many schools maintain their
own sports fields as well.

The size of the grant paid by government

is determined largely by the poverty level
of the neighbourhood in which the school
is situated, as well as unemployment rate
and general education rate of the
population in that neighbourhood.
Consequently, schools in more affluent
areas have to raise more money from
other sources to maintain the same
standard of education, but schools from
affluent areas often have so much
additional income that their standard of
education is much higher than that of less
affluent schools anyway.

The size of the government grant per child

depends on the "quintille" of the school. In
2009, schools in quintille 1 (the poorest)
and quintille 2 received R807 and R740 per
child per year, respectively, where as
schools in quintille 4 and quintille 5 (the
richest) received R404 and R134 per child
per year. Schools in quintille 1-3 may apply
for classification as a "No Fee" school. 5%
of all schools are quintille 5 schools, and
15% of all schools are quintille 4
schools.[10]

Sample school fees

Schools are not required to publish their

school fees publicly and many schools are
secretive about it, but here are some
examples of school fees in non-private
schools in South Africa:

The Settler's High, Bellville: R15200 per

child per year[11]
Monument Park High, Kraaifontein:
R9000 per child per year[12]

Poverty and school fees

Schools may not refuse admission to

children who live in the immediate vicinity
of the school. Schools may not refuse
entry to children or refuse to hand over
report cards even if their parents neglect
to pay the school fees, but schools are
permitted to sue parents for non-payment
of school fees.

Since 1996, children whose parents are

very poor are legally exempt from some or
all school fees. Since 1998, the formula is
as follows: If the combined annual income
of the parents is less than ten times the
annual school fee, the child is legally
exempt from paying school fees. If the
income is more than ten times the school
fee but less than thirty times the school
fee, the child is legally entitled to a specific
reduction in school fees. In practice, these
regulations help only very poor families,
and not working-class and middle-income
families.

Orphans and children of parents who

receive poverty-linked social grants are
also exempt from paying school fees.[10]

Since 2006 the Education department

offers the following incentive to the
poorest 40% of schools: if the school
charges no school fees, the education
department increases the grant to make
up for the lack of income from school
fees. It was originally planned to increase
this incentive to the poorest 60% of
schools by 2009. The incentive only
applies to children in the GED band, and
children who wish to complete grade 10-
12 must still pay the full fee.

In 2008, some 5 million learners in 14 264

schools benefited from the No Fee school
programme, and most of those learners
were in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal
and Limpopo provinces. Not all schools
who qualify for this incentive make use of
it.

Private schools

Private schools, also known as

independent schools, are schools that are
not owned by the state. They are usually
owned and operated by a trust, church or
community, or by a for-profit company. Not
all private schools in South Africa charge
high school fees. Certain private schools
also receive a grant from the state,
depending on the community served and
fees charged.[13]

Higher education and

training system
A graph mapping out the National Qualification
Frameworks (NQF) and how they relate to different
educational options within the South African
educational system in 2017. NQFs are a key

component of the South African higher education

system.

For university entrance, a "Matriculation

Endorsement" is required, although some
universities do set their own additional
academic requirements. South Africa has
a vibrant higher sector, with more than a
million students enrolled in the country’s
universities, colleges and universities of
technology. All the universities are
autonomous, reporting to their own
councils rather than government. The
National Qualifications Framework (NQF)
system of administering higher education
broadly in the country is run by the South
African Qualifications Authority.

Restructuring of universities
and technikons

The Extension of Universities Act of 1959

made provision for separate universities
for separate races. In addition, the
independent homelands were given
universities of their own. After the re-
incorporation of the independent
homelands, there were 36 universities and
technikons in South Africa, often in close
proximity and offering the same
courses.[14]

In 1994, the government embarked on a

restructure of the universities and
technikons by a series of mergers and
incorporations. This was completed by
January 2005. It created 22 new
institutions from the previous 36. Ten of
the universities got new names.
History
1806 to 1900

The earliest European schools in South

Africa were established in the Cape Colony
in the late seventeenth century by Dutch
Reformed Church elders committed to
biblical instruction, which was necessary
for church confirmation. In rural areas,
itinerant teachers (meesters) taught basic
literacy and math skills. British mission
schools proliferated after 1799, when the
first members of the London Missionary
Society arrived in the Cape Colony.[15]
Language soon became a sensitive issue
in education. At least two dozen English-
language schools operated in rural areas
of the Cape Colony by 1827, but their
presence rankled among devout
Afrikaners, who considered the English
language and curriculum irrelevant to rural
life and Afrikaner values. Throughout the
nineteenth century, Afrikaners resisted
government policies aimed at the spread
of the English language and British values,
and many educated their children at home
or in the churches.[15]

After British colonial officials began

encouraging families to emigrate from
Britain to the Cape Colony in 1820, the
Colonial Office screened applicants for
immigration for background qualifications.
They selected educated families, for the
most part, to establish a British presence
in the Cape Colony. After their arrival,
these parents placed a high priority on
education. Throughout this time, most
religious schools in the eastern Cape
accepted Xhosa children who applied for
admission; in Natal many other Nguni-
speaking groups sent their children to
mission schools after the mid-nineteenth
century. The government also financed
teacher training classes for Africans as
part of its pacification campaign
throughout the nineteenth century.[15]

By 1877 some 60 percent of white school-

age children in Natal were enrolled in
school, as were 49 percent in the Cape
Colony. After the Boer War (ended 1902) in
the former Afrikaner republics, however,
enrolments remained low—only 12 percent
in the Orange Free State and 8 percent in
the Transvaal—primarily the result of
Afrikaner resistance to British education.
Enrolments in these republics increased
after the government of the Union agreed
to the use of Afrikaans in the schools and
to allow Afrikaner parents greater control
over primary and secondary education.[15]

By the late nineteenth century, three types

of schools were receiving government
assistance—ward schools, or small rural
schools generally employing one teacher;
district schools, providing primary-level
education to several towns in an area; and
a few secondary schools in larger cities.
But during the last decades of that century,
all four provinces virtually abolished
African enrolment in government schools.
African children attended mission schools,
for the most part, and were taught by
clergy or by lay teachers, sometimes with
government assistance.[15]

Higher education was generally reserved

for those who could travel to Europe, but in
1829 the government established the
multiracial South African College, which
later became the University of Cape Town.
Religious seminaries accepted a few
African applicants as early as 1841. In
1852 the independent state of Transvaal
and in 1854 the Orange Free State
established their own institutions of higher
learning in Dutch. The government
established Grey College—later the
University of the Orange Free State—in
Bloemfontein in 1855 and placed it under
the supervision of the Dutch Reformed
Church. The Grey Institute was established
in Port Elizabeth in 1856; Graaff-Reinet
College was founded in 1860. The
Christian College was founded at
Potchefstroom in 1869 and was later
incorporated into the University of South
Africa and renamed Potchefstroom
University for Christian Higher
Education.[15]

1900 to 1948

Following the British victory in the South

African War, the British High
Commissioner for Southern Africa, Sir
Alfred Milner, brought thousands of
teachers from Britain, Canada, Australia,
and New Zealand to instil the English
language and British cultural values,
especially in the two former Afrikaner
republics. To counter the British influence,
a group of Afrikaner churches proposed an
education program, Christian National
Education, to serve as the core of the
school curriculum. The government
initially refused to fund schools adopting
this program, but Jan C. Smuts, the
Transvaal leader who later became prime
minister, was strongly committed to
reconciliation between Afrikaners and
English speakers; he favoured local control
over many aspects of education.
Provincial autonomy in education was
strengthened in the early twentieth
century, and all four provincial
governments used government funds
primarily to educate whites.[15]

The National Party (NP) was able to

capitalise on the fear of racial integration
in the schools to build its support. The
NP's narrow election victory in 1948 gave
Afrikaans new standing in the schools and,
after that, all high-school graduates were
required to be proficient in Afrikaans and
English. The NP government also
reintroduced Christian National Education
as the guiding philosophy of education.[15]

1948 to 1974

Before 1953, many black people attended

schools set up by religions organisations.
These schools provided schooling of the
same quality that white children received
in state schools. Following the Bantu
Education Act (No. 47) of 1953 the
government tightened its control over
religious high schools by eliminating
almost all financial aid, forcing many
churches to sell their schools to the
government or close them entirely.[16]
The South African government
implemented an education system called
Christian National Education (CNE). The
basis of this system is that a person's
social responsibilities and political
opportunities are defined by that person's
ethnic identity.

Although CNE advanced principles of

racial inferiority, it promoted teaching of
cultural diversity and enforced mother-
tongue instruction in the first years of
primary school. The government gave
strong management control to the school
boards, who were elected by the parents in
each district.[15]
In 1959, the Extension of University
Education Act prohibited established
universities from accepting most black
students, although the government did
create universities for black, coloured, and
Indian students.[16]

The number of schools for blacks

increased during the 1960s, but their
curriculum was designed to prepare
children for menial jobs. Per capita
government spending on black education
slipped to one-tenth of spending on whites
in the 1970s. Black schools had inferior
facilities, teachers, and textbooks.[15]
1974 to 1983

In 1974, the Minister of Bantu Education

and Development issued a decree
commonly known as the "Afrikaans
medium decree" in which the use of both
English and Afrikaans was made
compulsory in black secondary
schools.[17] In this decree, physical science
and practical subjects would be taught in
English, mathematics and social science
subjects would be taught in Afrikaans, and
music and cultural subjects would be
taught in the learner's native language. The
Minister said that the reason for this
decree was to ensure that black people
can communicate effectively with English
and Afrikaans speaking white people.

This decree was unpopular with learners

and teachers alike, particularly in towns
like the Johannesburg township of
Soweto, where practically no one spoke
Afrikaans. Tensions over language in
education erupted into violence on 16
June 1976, when students took to the
streets in Soweto and eventually in other
towns and cities in the country. This is
infamously known as the Soweto Uprising.
When students and those able to take a
stand, demanded to be taught in their
mother tongue. Many were killed and
injured that day due to police intervention,
they are remembered as martyrs. Schools
were vandalized and teachers left unable
to teach and students were unable to
come to school.

1984 to 1990

The National Policy for General Affairs Act

(No. 76) of 1984 provided some
improvements in black education but
maintained the overall separation called
for by the Bantu education system.

The Department of Education and Training

was responsible for black education
outside the homelands. Each of the three
houses of parliament—for whites,
coloureds, and Indians—had an education
department for one racial group. Each of
the ten homelands had its own education
department. In addition, several other
government departments managed
specific aspects of education.[15]

Education was compulsory for all racial

groups, but at different ages, and the law
was enforced differently. Whites were
required to attend school between the
ages of seven and sixteen. Black children
were required to attend school from age
seven until the equivalent of seventh grade
or the age of sixteen. This law was
enforced only weakly and not at all in
areas where schools were unavailable. For
Asians and coloured children, education
was compulsory between the ages of
seven and fifteen.[15]

Teacher-pupil ratios in primary schools

averaged 1:18 in white schools, 1:24 in
Asian schools, 1:27 in coloured schools,
and 1:39 in black schools. Moreover,
whereas 96 percent of all teachers in white
schools had teaching certificates, only 15
percent of teachers in black schools were
certified. Secondary-school pass rates for
black pupils in the nationwide,
standardised high-school graduation
exams were less than one-half the pass
rate for whites.[15]

1990 to 1993

The white education system was

restructured, in anticipation of democracy,
by the apartheid government. From the
beginning of 1991, white schools were
required to select one of four "Models": A,
B, C, or D. "Model C" was a semi-private
structure, with decreased funding from the
state, and greatly increased autonomy for
schools. Although most white schools
opted for the status quo, by 1993, due to
government policy, 96% of white public
schools became "Model C" schools.[18]

Although the form of "Model C" was

abolished by the post-apartheid
government, the term is still commonly
used to describe former whites-only
government schools, as of 2013.

1994 to 1997

Under Apartheid South Africa, there were

eight education departments that followed
different curricula and offered different
standards of learning quality. This included
nationwide departments for coloured
people, for Indians and for black people, a
department for independent schools, and
provincial departments for white people in
each of the former four provinces. Some
of the Bantustans that were incorporated
back into South Africa in 1994 also had
their own education departments.

In terms of the Interim Constitution, the

Mandela government restructured these
departments as well as tertiary education
departments, splitting responsibilities
between nine newly formed provincial
education departments and a single
national education department. It also set
about reforming the educational system
by first removing all racially offensive and
outdated content and then introducing
continuous assessment into schools.[19]

The South African Schools Act, 1996 was

promulgated to "provide for a uniform
system for the organisation, governance
and funding of schools".

1997 to 2005

In 1997, the government launched its new

education system called Curriculum 2005,
which would be based on "outcomes
based education" (OBE). By 2006 it was
clear that OBE as a social experiment had
failed, and it was quietly shelved.[20]

2006 until now - use of English

South Africa has 11 official languages.[21]

and the first year of schooling is provided
in all these home languages.[22]

Before 2009, schools serving non-English

speakers had to teach English as a subject
only from grade 3 and all subjects were
taught in English from grade 4 (except in
Afrikaans language schools). Since 2009,
all schools teach English as a subject from
grade 1 and all subjects are taught in
English from grade 4. Afrikaans language
schools are an exception, in that all
subjects (other than other languages) are
taught in Afrikaans.[23]

Performance
An independent study by Stellenbosch
University researchers found that undue
union influence and "critical educational
factors", including weak institutional
functionality, uneducated teachers, and
insufficient learning time, were responsible
for the poor state of South Africa. South
Africa has a high dropout rate due to
reasons of poor academic performance,
teen pregnancy and crime. [24]

Violence
The South African Human Rights
Commission has found that 40% of
children interviewed said they had been
the victims of crime at school. More than a
fifth of sexual assaults on South African
children were found to have taken place in
schools.[25] Gang fighting in schools,
whereby dangerous weapons which
include guns, are used, has also become
popular in recent years, specifically in
Cape Town, Western Cape. The Education
Department and the Centre for Justice and
Crime Prevention initiated a program
named Hlayiseka, the purpose of which is
to staunch the epidemic of school violence
in South African schools.[26]

Map of South Africa

References
1. "Photographic image" . Education.gov.za.
Retrieved 2017-08-27.
2. "Archived copy" . Archived from the
original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved
2 May 2013.
3. "Archived copy" . Archived from the
original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved
2 May 2013.
4. "High School - Roseway Waldorf School" .
Rosewaywaldorf.co.za. Retrieved
2017-08-27.
5. http://www.sprogs.co.za/resources/kids-
questions-answers/child-‘school’-gr-000-
send-he’s-6-turning-7-gr-1
6. "Is there a difference between Gr0 and
Gr00 ? - Sprogs" . Sprogs.co.za. Retrieved
2017-08-27.
7. "Education Statistics 2013" (PDF).
Gov.za. Retrieved 2017-08-27.
8. "Education Policy: School Fees" .
Etu.org.za. Retrieved 2017-08-27.
9. [1] Archived 28 January 2013 at the
Wayback Machine.
10. "NO fees Schools in South Africa -
Policy Brief 7" (PDF). Create-rpc.org.
Retrieved 2017-08-27.
11. "SCHOOL FEES 2013" (PDF).
Settlers.org.za. Retrieved 2017-08-27.
12. "Monument Park School fees
(Afrikaans)" . Hsmp.co.za. Retrieved
2017-08-27.
13. "Archived copy" . Archived from the
original on 23 April 2013. Retrieved 6 May
2013.
14. "Archived copy" . Archived from the
original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved
8 May 2013.
15. South Africa country study . Library of
Congress Federal Research Division. This
article incorporates text from this source,
which is in the public domain.
16. Ocampo, Lizet (2004-09-19). "Global
Perspectives on Human Language: The
South African Context - Timeline of
Education and Apartheid" . stanford.edu.
Retrieved 2017-08-26.
17. Boddy, Alistair (1976-06-16). "The
Afrikaans Medium Decree & the Soweto
Uprising" . africanhistory.about.com.
Retrieved 2017-08-26.
18. " 'Model C' is the model to emulate - 1
February 2011 - South AfricanInstitute of
Race Relations" . Sairr.org.za. Retrieved
2017-08-27.
19. "Curriculum reform in South Africa : a
critical analysis of outcomes-based
education" (PDF). Repository.up.ac.za.
Retrieved 2017-08-26.
20. "Archived copy" . Archived from the
original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved
7 May 2013.
21. "South Africa: Foundation Phase
Learners to Take More Subjects" .
Allafrica.com. 2011-06-29. Retrieved
2017-08-26.
22. "Education | Statistics South Africa" .
Statssa.gov.za. Statistics South Africa.
Retrieved 2017-08-26.
23. Megan Doidge (2014). "Factors
influencing Grade 7 teachers'
implementation of outcomes-based
approaches in the National Curriculum
when teaching "Human Reproduction""
(PDF). Doctors Thesis, University of the
Witwatersrand. Retrieved 2017-08-27.
24. Masondo, Sipho (2016-05-31).
"Education in South Africa: A system in
crisis" . CityPress. Retrieved 2017-05-04.
25. Violence rife in S Africa schools . (2008,
March 12). BBC News Online. London.
26. "Children of wrath" . Mail & Guardian. 22
August 2008. Retrieved 6 May 2013.

External links
(Ministry) Department of Basic
Education
(Ministry) Department of Higher
Education and Training
(Ministry) Department of Science and
Technology
 Education in South Africa at
SouthAfrica.info
Education in South Africa from the
Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium
for Monitoring Educational Quality
Education in South Africa , webdossier
by Education Worldwide, a portal of the
German Education Server
The Presidency, South Africa (Date
unknown): Improving Government
Performance: Our Approach
Tertiary Education Options in South
Africa

Further reading
 The Next Twenty-Five Years: Affirmative
Action in Higher Education in the United
States and South Africa . David L.
Featherman, et al. University of
Michigan Press. 2009. 416 pages.
ISBN 978-0-472-11705-5
Estudiantes negros en Sudáfrica alzan la
voz y piden una verdadera
transformación . Norimitsu Onishi, The
New York Times, September 11, 2015.

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