The Education System in South Africa

The Department of Education is oversees the education system of the Republic of South Africa. It has 5 branches: General Education and Training (Grade 0-9); Further Education and Training (Grade 10-12); Higher Education and Training (Tertiary Institutions); Quality Promotion and Development; and System Planning. Its vision is to provide the South African people lasting education and training opportunities that can contribute in building a better quality life and society.

As of 2007, South Africa has approximately 12 million students, more than 360,000 teachers and 28,000 schools. A typical South African learner is obliged to attend school for 13 years or grades with the exceptions of grades 0, 10, 11, and 12. Public universities and colleges in South Africa are grouped into 3 categories: Traditional; Technology; and Comprehensive. Traditional universities offer degrees that are more theoretically-oriented (University of Cape Town, University of Pretoria, University of the Witwatersrand). Universities of Technology on the other hand offer degrees in technical fields that involve various practical applications (Central University of Technology, Cape Peninsula University of Technology).

Comprehensive universities offer a combination of traditional and technology schools (University of Johannesburg, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, and University of South Africa).

In 2004, the South African government began reorganizing its higher education structure by merging and integrating small universities and colleges into larger institutions. It has also recently started some so-called “FOCUS” schools which specialize in specific set of courses such the Arts, Business and Commerce, Culture, and Engineering.