More South Africans are educated

24 November 2009 - 08:17
By South African Institute of Race Relations

Despite this increase in the number of educated South African’s government still has a long way to go.

Education levels among South African adults have increased significantly over the past ten years. Between 1997 and 2007 the number of adults who had completed Grade 8 increased from 14 093 000 to 19 026 000. The proportion of adults who had completed Grade 8 increased from 61.4% in 1997, to 69.0% in 2007.

The number and proportion of people who had completed Grade 12 also increased. In 1997 some 5 398 000 people had completed matric. In 2007 this had increased by just over three million people, to 9 020 000. The proportion of people who had completed Grade 12 in 1997 was 25.9%, and had increased to 32.7% in 2007. This is according to the latest South Africa Survey, published by the South African Institute of Race Relations this week.

A similar trend emerged when looking at the number of people who had completed higher education. In 1997 only 600 000 South Africans had completed some form of higher education. By 2007, this had almost doubled, with 1 050 000 people having completed higher education. The proportion of people who had completed higher education in 1997 was 2.6%.

The proportion of people with higher education in 2007 was 3.8%. The number of people who had no schooling declined over the same period. In 1997 there were some 3 196 000 people in South Africa who had no schooling, equating to 13.9% of the population. By 2007 the number of people with no schooling had declined to 2 542 000.

The proportion of people in South Africa with no schooling in 2007 had reduced to 9.2%. An Institute researcher, Mr Marius Roodt, said that the increase in the number of people with an education was an achievement that the Government could rightly be proud of. However, there was still a large proportion of the population who did not have any schooling. 'The trend does seem to indicate that the numbers of people with no education continue to drop.

The challenge now is to ensure that people who do receive an education, receive one that is of value, allowing them to find gainful employment and contribute to South African society,' Roodt said.

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