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Education Statistics:
Last updated (31 October 2017) This page is dedicated to supplying readers with more information regarding South Africa's education statistics and will be updated periodically as more information becomes available. |
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Number of registered students at higher education institutions (31 October 2017)
This section will take a look at the number of students registered at various higher education institutions across South Africa, at various points in time. Interesting to note is the increase of student numbers at specific institutions from 2012 to 2016 while there are strong declines at other institutions
When looking at the graphic above readers should note that the scale is logarithmic. Thus it increases 10 fold to the next value. So while it looks like North West university has student numbers not that far off from UNISA, UNISA has almost 5 times more students enrolled with them than the next biggest higher education institution which is North West university, closely followed by Tshwane University of Technology (TUT). However UNISA has seen its numbers decline by roughly 10% from 336 000 in 2016 to just under 300 000 in 2016. UNISA is not alone in this. University of Pretoria (TUKS), Vaal and University of Limpopo have seen similar declines in student numbers over the last 4 years.
On the opposite side there is University of Venda (Univen) which has shown incredible growth with numbers rising from just over 10 000 in 2012 to over 15 000 in 2016 (almost 50% increase in student numbers over a 4 year period). Central and WITS have also shown steady growth in student numbers over the period in question.
The image below shows the number of students graduating from the various higher education institutions over time. Encouraging to see is the fact that the numbers are increasing, but is this due to the increase in number of students or better pass rates being achieved?
On the opposite side there is University of Venda (Univen) which has shown incredible growth with numbers rising from just over 10 000 in 2012 to over 15 000 in 2016 (almost 50% increase in student numbers over a 4 year period). Central and WITS have also shown steady growth in student numbers over the period in question.
The image below shows the number of students graduating from the various higher education institutions over time. Encouraging to see is the fact that the numbers are increasing, but is this due to the increase in number of students or better pass rates being achieved?
Image sourced from Statistics South Africa. www.statssa.gov.za
While the number of students enrolled has increased by 2.4% from 2012 to 2016, the number of students that graduated has increased by 22.3%. Clearly showing number of graduates increasing is not just due to the number of students increasing. The image below shows the total value of grants paid by national government to various higher education institutions. And it is clear to see that grants paid increased sharply after the #feesmustfall campaign. Interesting to note that the growth in grants paid is growing a lot faster for Universities compared to University of Technologies.
Grants paid by national government to higher education institutions. Source: Stats SA
While we mentioned earlier that University of Pretoria (TUKS) showed a decline in student numbers, the graphic below shows that it has not detered TUKS from spending money on upgrading their facilities and equipment (as their Capex spending accounts from over 10% of total capital expenditure by all higher education institutions. Surely this bodes well for the quality of education at TUKS, is there are less students yet better facilities and equipment. Stellenbosch University and WITS makes up the rest of the top three when it comes to capital expenditure by higher education institutions.
Capital expenditure (Capex) per higher institution in South Africa. Source : Statistics South Africa (www.statssa.gov.za)
The image below shows the percentage of students per race group that go on to obtain a bachelors degree after matriculating. And it is clear that white students as a percentage of the race group makes up the highest percentage of students who obtain a bachelors degree. Various factors contribute to this and we will touch on them below the image.
Percentage of students per race group that obtain a bachelors degree after matric. Source: Statistics South Africa
White students parents are more like to afford better primary and secondary schooling, and more likely to be able to pay for tertiary education, hence the higher percentage of white students obtaining bachelors degrees after matriculating With around 25% of white students obtaining a bachelors degree after matric, Indian/Asians comes a distant second with around 15% while both Coloured and Black Africans sitting around 5% of students obtaining a bachelors degree after matric. Concerning to see is the decline in the percentage of Coloured and Black African students obtaining bachelors degrees after school. Again part of this is due to a lack of funding from these race groups, making it harder for students from these groups to enter a higher education institutions. And this is part of the reason for the whole #feesmustfall campaign that swept across South Africa.
Number of learners per school grade (11 March 2016)
The funnel chart below is based on statistics from the Basic Education Department. It shows the number of learners registered per grade in South Africa. What is concerning to note that around 1,2 million learners are registered for Grade 1. Yet only 680 000 odd makes it to Grade 12.
Data from the Department of Higher Education showed the number of new graduates that registered at Higher Education Institutes (such as Varsities, Universities of Technologies etc.) coming in at 158 000 in 2013. Thus assuming all the new registrations were matriculants of the the previous year (which roughly totales 700 000) , only 22% of martriculants or about 1 in 5 makes it to Higher Education Institutions (HEI) after school. Looking at it a little differently, only 12% (or around 1 in 9) of school children entering grade 1 will make it to HEI if this trend continues.
This is a serious concern as the higher the level of education the greater the chance of being employed.
This is a serious concern as the higher the level of education the greater the chance of being employed.
