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To view the virtual HE initiatives, go to the Virtual Initiatives in South Africa Re.ViCa page.


Partners situated in South Africa

None. On the International Advisory Committee we have Herman J. van der Merwe.

South Africa in a nutshell

Map of South Africa

The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of Africa. South Africa's coast borders both the Atlantic and Indian oceans. To the north of South Africa lie Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Swaziland, while the Kingdom of Lesotho is an independent enclave surrounded by South African territory.


South Africa is known for its diversity, and eleven official languages are recognised in its constitution. English is the most commonly spoken language in official and commercial public life, however it is only the fifth most spoken home language.


South Africa is ethnically diverse, with the largest Caucasian, Indian, and racially mixed communities in Africa. Although 79.6% of South Africa's population is Black, this category is neither culturally nor linguistically homogenous, as they speak a number of different Bantu languages, nine of which have official status.


Midyear 2007, South Africa's population was estimated at 47.9 million. This makes it quite large compared with the typical European country.


(Above section adapted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa)

South Africa education policy

In recent history, South Africa has seen major changes, both in governments, society and education as the Apartheid only came to a halt in 1994. Apartheid was a government-enforced system of racial segregation which had a very limiting impact on the everyday life, living areas, job opportunities and education of coloured people in South Africa. An example of this is the Bantu Education Act of 1953 (No. 47) which enforced racial segregation in education. The Apartheid lasted from 1948 to 1994, after which the Constitution was established and the educational system was revised to improve racial diversity and equality in education.

Document of relevance:


The Bill of Rights, contained in the Constitution, 1996, even mentions the need to redress the results of past racially discriminatory laws and practices (Section 29. Paragraph 2.3 ).

The Bill stipulates that everyone has the right to a basic education, including adult basic education and further education, which the State, through reasonable measures, must progressively make available and accessible:

28. Children: Every child has the right (...) not to be required or permitted to perform work or provide services that ­(...) place at risk the child's well-being, education, physical or mental health or spiritual, moral or social development;
29. Education:
1. Everyone has the right ­
1. to a basic education, including adult basic education; and
2. to further education, which the state, through reasonable measures, must make progressively available and accessible.
2. Everyone has the right to receive education in the official language or languages of their choice in public educational institutions where that education is reasonably practicable. In order to ensure the effective access to, and implementation of, this right, the state must consider all reasonable educational alternatives, including single medium institutions, taking into account ­
1. equity;
2. practicability; and
3. the need to redress the results of past racially discriminatory laws and practices.
3. Everyone has the right to establish and maintain, at their own expense, independent educational institutions that ­
1. do not discriminate on the basis of race;
2. are registered with the state; and
3. maintain standards that are not inferior to standards at comparable public educational institutions.
4. Subsection (3) does not preclude state subsidies for independent educational institutions.


Sources & Related Documents:


The Council for Higher Education (CHE) has also published the Ministry of Education's Language Policy Framework for South African Higher Education (PDF) in 2001, which has the promotion of multilingualism as a central aspect. It also affects the language of each qualification certificate and transcript issued to a student within the South African higher education system, as stated in the Higher Education Qualifications Framework (HEQF) (PDF), 2007.


The National Education Policy Act, 1996 (Act 27 of 1996), empowers the Minister of Education to determine national norms and standards for education planning, provision, governance, monitoring and evaluation. The South African government is divided into departments instead of what we call Ministries. Department of Education is responsible for formulating policy, setting norms and standards, and monitoring and evaluating all levels of education and also in funding Higher Education Institutions through subsidies and by providing financial support to students through National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).


The government puts its focus on equity, quality of teaching and learning and literacy. As the Department of Education states on its site:

"Our vision is of a South Africa in which all our people have access to lifelong education and training opportunities, which will in turn contribute towards improving the quality of life and building a peaceful, prosperous and democratic society" and part of its mission is "creating a vibrant further education and training system to equip youth and adults to meet the social and economic needs of the 21st century."


In 1994 The government-in-waiting’s commitment to increasing access to education through the use of distance education methods was evident in the 1994 Policy Framework for Education and Training (ANC Education Department, Johannesburg):

The development of a well-designed and quality distance education system based on the principles of open learning is the only feasible approach to meeting the needs of the vast numbers of our people who were systematically deprived of educational opportunity in the past, while at the same time providing opportunities for the youth coming up through the educational system at present. It will allow people access to education and training and the ability to determine where, when, what and how they want to learn (ANC, 1994:78).
Source: Designing and Delivering Distance Education: Quality Criteria and Case Studies from South Africa. Section One (PDF - EN - 17 pages, by Tessa Welch and Yvonne Reed with NADEOSA Quality Criteria Task Team


Formal education in South Africa is categorised according to three levels – General Education and Training (GET), Further Education and Training (FET) and Higher Education (HE). By mid-2007, the South African public-education system had 12,3 million learners, 387 000 educators, 26 592 schools, 2 278 Abet centres, 50 public FET institutions, 4 800 Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres and 23 HE institutions.


There are also policy frameworks in South Africa that focus on inclusion such as the Policy Framework on HIV and AIDS in October 2008, which was adopted by the Minister of Education (Naledi Pandor in 2009), and the 23 public sector higher education institutions in South Africa. HEAIDS is South Africa’s nationally co-ordinated, comprehensive and large-scale effort designed to develop and strengthen the capacity, the systems, and the structures of all HEIs in managing and mitigating the causes, challenges and consequences of HIV/AIDS in the sector and to strengthen the leadership role that can and should be played by the HE sub-sector.

Source: Higher Education South Africa (HESA) > HEAIDS, Strategic framework 2006-2009 and beyond (PDF).
Related document: HESA > Press Release > SA higher education adopts policy framework to mitigate HIV and AIDS at institutions (PDF), Oct. 2008


Councils and advocacy groups:


Related Documents:

South Africa education system

The Constitution has vested substantial power in the provincial legislatures and governments to run educational affairs (other than universities and universities of technology), subject to a national policy framework. The national Department of Education is responsible for formulating policy, setting norms and standards, and monitoring and evaluating all levels of education. It also funds HE institutions through subsidies and by providing financial support to students through the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).

Source: South African Government Information - National and Provincial Departments Formal education in South Africa is categorised according to three levels:

  1. General Education and Training (GET): consists of the Reception Year (Grade R) and schooling up to Grade 9 and the equivalent Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET) qualification.
  2. Further Education and Training (FET): consists of grades 10 to 12 in schools and all education and training from the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) levels 2 to 4 (equivalent to grades 10 to 12 in schools), and the N1 to N6 in FET colleges. After completion of level 1 of the NQF, a learner could achieve a GETC and after completion of level 4 of the NQF, an FETC.
  3. Higher Education (HE): consists of a range of degrees, diplomas and certificates up to and including post-doctoral degrees


Educational levels

Band Age School grade NQF Level Qualification Type
Higher Education and Training 21 8 Post-doctoral research degrees (Postgraduate Diploma, Bachelor Honours Degree at Exit Level 8)
Doctorates
Masters degrees
20 7 Professional Qualifications / Post Graduate Certificate
Honours degrees (Advanced Diploma, Bachelor\'s Degree at NQF Exit Level 7)
19 6 National first degrees
Higher diplomas (Advanced Certificate, Diploma at NQF Exit level 6)
18 5 National diplomas
National certificates (Higher Certificate at NQF Exit Level 5)
Further Education and Training 17 12 4 National certificates
16 11 3
15 10 2
General Education and Training (ABET Level 4) 14 9 1
13 8
12 7
11 6
10 5
9 4
8 3
7 2
6 1
5 0/R Grade R (reception year)
Compulsory education
  • The age of a child entering grade 1 is age five turning six by 30 June in the year of admission.
  • Grade R (reception year) or grade 0, the age is four turning five by 30 June in the year of admission.
  • Grade 12 is the year of matriculation: the final exams of high school are administered by the government and are called "matric exams" so students in the final year of high school (grade 12 or the matriculation grade) are known as "matrics" and if they pass these exams they are called matriculants or it's said that they "matriculated". Becoming a matriculant is required (with certain minimum conditions) for tertiary education. Some private schools also offer a post-matric "sixth form" year which allows students to sit for A-level examinations.
  • The minimum requirement for admission to a higher education institution from 1 January 2009 is the National Senior Certificate. Related documents: www.education.gov.za/Documents/policies/EntryHE_NCS.pdf and www.education.gov.za/Documents/policies/AdmissionRequirements.pdf
  • Government is (...) bound by the Constitution to progressively improve access to further education and training (FET) (which is Grades 10 to 12 in schools).
Source: Plan of Action Improving access to free and quality basic education for all (PDF), June 2003 by the Department of Education


Teacher-student ratio

There is usually some correlation between class size and fees. The average teacher-to-pupil ratio in state schools is 1:33, as compared with 1:18 in private schools. At those state-aided schools where parents pay for extra teachers by way of school fees, and at the more expensive private schools, the maximum number of pupils is usually about 30. At poorer schools this is often higher, with as many as 40 to 50 children in a classroom.

Source: A parent's guide to schooling > How large will my child's class be?


Sources:


Distance education in primary education

OLSET is a provider of Open and Distance Learning in South Africa specifically for primary school children. Committed to the goal of 'Education for All', OLSET, a South African-based NGO working in collaboration with the country's National and Provincial Departments of Education, actively supports the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) through the considerable geographic outreach of its Interactive Radio Learning Programme. In 2008-9 OLSET's English In Action Radio Learning Programme reached over 1.8 million learners and 52,000 teachers in seven of South Africa’s nine provinces. A highly-regarded education provider, OLSET has worked and works in collaboration with, inter alia, South African Provincial Departments of Education, South African Broadcasting Corporation, UNICEF/Operation Lifeline Sudan, UNESCO IICBA, the British Council, DFID and the BBC.

Source: http://www.olset.org.za

Higher education

The Wikipedia List of universities in South Africa is informative at a general level as well as for details. It also provides comprehensive listings of the many other providers both domestic and foreign.

In 2004 South Africa started reforming its higher education system, merging and incorporating small universities into larger institutions, and renaming all higher education institutions "university" (previously there had been several types of higher education institution).

More information under the section on Higher education reform

There are also a large number of other educational institutions in South Africa - some are local campuses of foreign universities, some conduct classes for students who write their exams at the distance-education University of South Africa and some offer unaccredited or non-accredited diplomas.

Public universities in South Africa are divided into three types: traditional universities, which offer theoretically-oriented university degrees; universities of technology, which offer practically-oriented diplomas and degrees in technical fields; and comprehensive universities, which offer a combination of both types of qualification.


Universities in South Africa

In this section we discuss the traditional universities and the comprehensive universities only.


Traditional universities

There are 11 of these:

  1. University of Cape Town (UCT), (Cape Town)
  2. University of Fort Hare (UFH), (Alice), (East London)
  3. University of the Free State (UOVS), (Bloemfontein)
  4. University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), (Durban, Pietermaritzburg, Pinetown, Westville)
  5. University of Limpopo, (Polokwane, Ga-Rankuwa)
  6. North-West University (NWU), (Mafikeng, Mankwe, Potchefstroom, Vanderbijlpark)
  7. University of Pretoria (UP), (Pretoria)
  8. Rhodes University (RU), (Grahamstown)
  9. University of Stellenbosch (SUN), (Stellenbosch)
  10. University of the Western Cape (UWC), (Cape Town)
  11. University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), (Johannesburg)


Comprehensive universities

There are 5 of these:

  1. University of Johannesburg (UJ), (Johannesburg)
  2. Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU), (Port Elizabeth)
  3. University of South Africa (UNISA), (Pretoria - Distance Education)
  4. University of Venda (Univen), (Thohoyandou)
  5. Walter Sisulu University for Technology and Science (WSU), (Buffalo City, Butterworth, Mthatha, Queenstown)
  6. University of Zululand (Unizulu), (Empangeni)

Universities of Technology in South Africa

There are 6 Universities of Technology (previously known as Technikons)

  1. Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), (Bellville, Cape Town)
  2. Central University of Technology (CUT), (Bloemfontein, Welkom)
  3. Durban University of Technology (DUT), (Durban, Pietermaritzburg)
  4. Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT), (Durban)
  5. Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) (Pretoria)
  6. Vaal University of Technology (VUT), (Vanderbijlpark)


Relevant sources: SATN > Universities of Technology list

Other providers

Notable provider: CIDA Foundation UK is a university that enables previously disadvantaged learners from taking up Higher Education. It depends on funding and sponsoring from companies and individuals and demands from its students that they go to their own communities and educate their peers. [..] The students to fully appreciate their education they all contribute financially towards tuition: £31 in total for year one, and £13 per month in years two to four. This is 6% of the cost of attending other universities in South Africa. [..] Students also help to run the campus by dedicating a minimum of five hours of their time each week. At the end of the course, rather than paying back a loan, students are encouraged to "pay it forward" by committing to funding another student from their hometown after they graduate and become employed.

Source: CIDA - About Us - Fees (web page)

Higher education reform / The New Institutional Landscape

In 2004 South Africa started reforming its higher education system, merging and incorporating small universities into larger institutions, and renaming all higher education institutions "university" (previously there had been several types of higher education institution). The country's universities and technikons which were incorporated with others and thus no longer exist are listed at the end of the Wikipedia article List of universities in South Africa.


This major change started in 2001, for which the scenarios for each HE institution was stipulated in the following publication from which this quote is taken:

"[..] the apartheid legacy continues to burden the higher education system, which not only remains fragmented on race lines, but has been unable to rise fully to meet the challenges of reconstruction and development. The new institutional landscape proposed in this report, which has been approved by Cabinet, provides the foundation for establishing a higher education system that is consistent with the vision, values and principles of non-racial, non-sexist and democratic society and which is responsive and contributes to the human resource and knowledge needs of South Africa. [...] The new institutional landscape proposed is the culmination of a wide-ranging consultative process on the restructuring of the higher education system that began in the early 1990s."

Source: Transformation and Restructuring: A New Institutional Landscape for Higher Education, Ministry of Education, 2002 (PDF - 40 pages)


The Ministry’s proposals would result in 23 higher education institutions and two National Institutes for Higher Education (outlined in Appendix 1), consisting of 11 Universities, 6 Universities of Technology (previously known as Technikons), 4 Comprehensive Institutions and 2 National Institutes for Higher Education.

Relevant Documents:


This no doubtingly was a meticulous merge for the affected institutes as the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) carefully states on her site about its own merge: “This union of three very different institutions came about as a result of government’s countrywide restructuring of higher education – intended to deliver a more equitable and efficient system to meet the needs of South Africa in the 21st century.”

Source: NMMU's History web page


The Further Education & Training (FET) institutions were affected by this restructuring as well as they were reduced from 152 to 50 institutions.

Source: South African Government - Information about Education:

Documents of relevance:

Administration and finance

A 2004 document of the Ministry Of Education called A New Funding Framework: How Government Grants Are Allocated To Public Higher Education Institutions lists a broad summary of the ways in which funds flowed to public universities and technikons (now Universities of Technology) in South Africa:

  • 50% Government grants
  • 25% Student tuition & other fees
  • 25% Other private income
= 100% Annual funds for public higher education.
Source: > A New Funding Framework: How Government Grants Are Allocated To Public Higher Education Institutions (PDF, 2004)(Diagram 1 p. 2/20)


Funding to institutions

"South Africa has one of the highest rates of government investment in education in the world. Education was allocated R105,5 billion in 2007/08."

Source: South African Government Information - “About Education” web page


The South African Qualification Authority (SAGA) lists:

  • 5.7% Public Expenditure on Education as a % of Gross National Income (GNI)
  • 14.5% of Education budget allocated to higher education in (2008)
  • A Loan/Grant scheme is in place
Source: SARUA (2008) – Pillay report, referenced on the SARUA's South Africa web page


This table Allocation of MTEF Budgets 2006/7 to 2008/9 shows how the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) budgets for the triennium 2006/07 to 2008/09 have been divided between the various categories of grant in the new funding framework:

South-Africa funding-budget.gif

Source:Ministry of Education - Ministerial Statement of Higher Education Funding: 2006/7 to 2008/9 Quality Assurance (PDF), 2006


In the Department of Education's Higher Education Information Management System (HEMIS), the properties of a qualification determines the total number of units of state subsidy approved by the Minister of Education for that qualification. The record of subsidy units per qualification is an essential part of the determination of full-time equivalent student totals. In turn these enable the Department of Education to calculate the annual subsidy grant for each public higher education institution. Subsidy units are at present described for each qualification in terms of "approved total years", "approved formal years", and "approved experiential years".

Source: The Higher Education Qualifications Framework - Higher Education Act, 1997 (Act No. 101 of 1997), October 2007


Related Documents on Funding:

  • The funding framework, published in the Government Gazette of 9 December 2003 (Vol 462, no 25824)



Bursaries for students

"In 2007/08, government allocated R1,8 billion to FET colleges. Over 25 000 students registered in newly developed technical and service skills-related programmes. Some R600 million was provided for bursaries to FET college students."


The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) is responsible for, among other matters, allocating loans and bursaries to eligible students in public HE.


Source: South African Government Information - “About Education” web page


Furthermore there are also several scholarship options for South African students, for example the scholarships of the Medical Research Council of South Africa (MRC)

Related Document on Bursaries:


Related Documents on Administration:

Quality assurance

The South African Council on Higher Education (CHE) is an independent statutory body responsible for advising the Minister of Education on all matters related to higher education policy issues, and for quality assurance in higher education and training. Its statutory responsibility for the promotion and assurance of quality in higher education is carried out by one permanent sub-committee, the Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC). The HEQC is responsible for evaluating and reporting on the effectiveness of the quality management systems of higher education institutions in relation to assessment, short courses, certification arrangements, and recognition of prior learning (RPL).

The Higher Education Act of 1997 (reference: Higher Education Act 101 of 1997) states that the functions of the HEQC are to:

  • promote quality in higher education
  • audit the quality assurance mechanisms of higher education institutions
  • accredit programmes of higher education


National Qualifications Framework

In 2007 the Minister of Education published the Higher Education Qualifications Framework (HEQF) (PDF) as set out in the Schedule as policy in terms of section 3 of the Higher Education Act, 1997 (Act No. 101 of 1997). It recognized that separate and parallel qualifications structures for universities and technikons have hindered the articulation of programmes and transfer of students between programmes and higher education institutions. The HEQF is designed to facilitate vertical, horizontal and diagonal progression and provides the basis for integrating all higher education qualifications into the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) and its structures for standards generation and quality assurance.


South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) is a body of 29 members appointed by the Ministers of Education and Labour with two major functions: to oversee first of all the development of the National Qualifications Framework (NQF), and second of all the implementation of the NQF


Accumulation of credits towards qualifications

Matriculation Board is a project from Higher Education South Africa (HESA) and strives to administer the Matriculation Board regulations as required by law for the 2006 and 2007 Senior Certificate examinations, and entry into public HE in 2007 and 2008, and via HESA it advises the Minister of Education on the minimum general admission requirements for first bachelor’s degree studies.


Credit accumulation and transfer (CAT) is the process whereby a student's achievements are recognised and contribute to further learning even if the student does not achieve a qualification.

The framework has nine qualification types mapped onto the six levels of the NQF occupied by higher education qualifications. Some levels have more than one qualification type. The framework comprises the following qualification types:

  1. Undergraduate
    1. Higher Certificate (primarily vocational, or industry oriented and minimum entry requirement is National Senior Certificate)
    2. Advanced Certificate (primarily vocational, or industry oriented and minimum entry requirement is Higher Certificate)
    3. Diploma (primarily professional, vocational or industry specific and minimum entry requirement is National Senior Certificate or alternate the Higher Certificate or Advanced Certiticate in a cognate field]
    4. Advanced Diploma (minimum entry requirement is an appropriate Diploma or Bachelor's Degree)
    5. Bachelor's Degree (often referred to as "professional" Bachelor's Degrees, minimum entry requirement is the National Senior Certificate)
  2. Postgraduate (postgraduate specialisation, minimum entry requirement Bachelor Honours Degree)
    1. Postgraduate Diploma (minimum entry requirement is an appropriate Bachelor's Degree)
    2. Bachelor Honours Degree (minimum entry requirement is a Postgraduate Diploma)
    3. Masters Degree (minimum entry requirement is a Bachelor Honours Degree or alternate a "professional" Bachelor's Degree with a minimum of 96 credits at level 8 or a Postgraduate Diploma)
    4. Doctoral Degree (minimum entry requirement is a Master's Degree)


The minimum requirement for admission to a higher education institution from 1 January 2009 is the National Senior Certificate, whose specifications were approved by the Minister of Education (in the document National Senior Certificate - A qualification at level 4 on the National Qualifications Framework published in the Government Gazette, Vol. 481, 1\10. 27819, July 2005). Given the diversity of programmes and qualifications in higher education, the Minister has declared as policy the Minimum Admission Requirements for Higher Certificate/ Diploma and Bachelor's Degree Programmes (published in the Government Gazette, Vol. 482, No. 27961, August 2005) requiring a National Senior Certificate. These minima must be met by all applicants to entry level higher education qualifications. Applicants with different qualifications may only be admitted in they are judged equivalent by the designated equivalence-setting bodies.


Documents / web pages of relevance:

South African HEIs in the information society

Towards the information society

Organisations or Councils

  • SchoolNet SA is a non-profit educational organisation that creates learning communities of educators and learners who use ICT to enhance education in South Africa. Since 1997 SchoolNet SA manages a variety of projects covering all aspects of the use of ICTs, directed mainly at historically disadvantaged schools in South Africa.
  • The African Council for Distance Education (ACDE)(Kenya) is a continental educational organization comprising African universities and other higher education institutions, which are committed to expanding access to quality education and training through open and distance learning. Prof. Barney Pityana, Principal & Vice-Chancellor, Univ. of South Africa is Chairman of the board.


Umbrella institutions


Documents of relevance:

Information society strategy

South African Virtual Initiatives in Higher Education

To view the initiatives, go to the Virtual Initiatives in South Africa Re.ViCa page.

References

  1. Wikipedia page on South Africa
  2. South African Government - Information about Education
  3. Department of Education, Republic of South Africa
  4. Transformation and Restructuring: A New Institutional Landscape for Higher Education, Ministry of Education, 2002 (PDF - 40 pages)
  5. Council for Higher Education
  6. SouthAfrica.info - South Africa's universities web page
  7. Higher Education South Africa (HESA)
  8. South Africa & the Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development (OECD)
  9. Thutong is an educational portal, coordinated by the National Department of Education, which offers support materials and learning spaces for learners.
  10. Education in South Africa (wikipedia page)
  11. Reviews of National Policies for Education - South Africa by OECD Publishing. Also see the read-only e-book
  12. Higher Education Monitor - Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and South African Higher Education: Mapping the Landscape Research Report for the Council on Higher Education, July 2006, by Laura Czerniewicz, Neetha Ravjee, Nhlanhla Mlitwa.
  13. The Impact of South Africa’s ICT Infrastructure on Higher Education (p.69-76) (PDF), 2008, by Cheryl Brown (University of Cape Town South Africa), Herbert Thomas (University of the Free State, South Africa), Antoinette van der Merwe and Liezl van Dyk (University of Stellenbosch, South Africa). A paper presented at ICEL 2008, which is included in the Booklet with Abstracts of Papers.
  14. Landscaping Information and Communication Technologies in Higher Education in South Africa (WORD or PDF), by Cheryl Brown, Herbert Thomas, Antoinette van der Merwe, Liezl van Dyk. A paper prepared for TENET Symposium 12-14 November 2007.

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