Education in South Africa
Education in South Africa
South Africa has 12.3 million learners, 386,000 teachers and around 48,000 schools – including 390 special needs schools and 1,000 registered private schools. Of all the schools, are high schools (Grade 8 to 12) and the rest are primary schools (Grade 1 to 7).
School life spans 13 years - or grades - although the first year of education, grade 0 or "reception year", and the last three years, grade 10, 11 and grade 12 or "matric" are not compulsory. Many Primary schools offer grade 0, although this pre-school year may also be completed at Nursery school.
Recently, great advances have been made in the introduction of new technology to the formerly disadvantaged schools. Organizations such as Khanya,[1] (Nguni for enlightenment) have worked to provide computer access in state schools. A recent national initiative has been the creation of "FOCUS" schools. These specialise in specific curriculum areas (Business & Commerce, Engineering, Arts & Culture) and are very similar to the UK specialist schools programme.
For university entrance, a "Matriculation Endorsement" is required, although some universities do set their own additional academic requirements. South Africa has a vibrant higher education sector, with more than a million students enrolled in the country’s universities and universities of technology. All the universities are autonomous, reporting to their own councils rather than government. Pre-colonial education
Many African societies placed strong emphasis on traditional forms of education well before the arrival of Europeans. Adults in Khoisan- and Bantu-speaking societies, for example, had extensive responsibilities for transmitting cultural values and skills within kinship-based groups and sometimes within larger organizations, villages, or districts. Education involved oral histories of the group, tales of heroism and treachery, and practice in the skills necessary for survival in a changing environment.
Colonial education
The
South Africa has 12.3 million learners, 386,000 teachers and around 48,000 schools – including 390 special needs schools and 1,000 registered private schools. Of all the schools, are high schools (Grade 8 to 12) and the rest are primary schools (Grade 1 to 7).
School life spans 13 years - or grades - although the first year of education, grade 0 or "reception year", and the last three years, grade 10, 11 and grade 12 or "matric" are not compulsory. Many Primary schools offer grade 0, although this pre-school year may also be completed at Nursery school.
Recently, great advances have been made in the introduction of new technology to the formerly disadvantaged schools. Organizations such as Khanya,[1] (Nguni for enlightenment) have worked to provide computer access in state schools. A recent national initiative has been the creation of "FOCUS" schools. These specialise in specific curriculum areas (Business & Commerce, Engineering, Arts & Culture) and are very similar to the UK specialist schools programme.
For university entrance, a "Matriculation Endorsement" is required, although some universities do set their own additional academic requirements. South Africa has a vibrant higher education sector, with more than a million students enrolled in the country’s universities and universities of technology. All the universities are autonomous, reporting to their own councils rather than government. Pre-colonial education
Many African societies placed strong emphasis on traditional forms of education well before the arrival of Europeans. Adults in Khoisan- and Bantu-speaking societies, for example, had extensive responsibilities for transmitting cultural values and skills within kinship-based groups and sometimes within larger organizations, villages, or districts. Education involved oral histories of the group, tales of heroism and treachery, and practice in the skills necessary for survival in a changing environment.
Colonial education
The
References: P. Aghion, and P. Howitt, 1998, Endogenous Growth Theory, MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts M W. Baumol, 2002, The Free Market Innovation Machine: Analyzing the Growth Miracle of Capitalism, Princeton University Press G J. Benhabib and M. Spiegel, 2005, ‘Human Capital and Technology Diffusion,’ in P. Aghion and S. Durlauf, eds, Handbook of Economic Growth, Elsevier, North-Holland M. Bils and P. Klenow, 2000, ‘Does Schooling Cause Growth?,’ American EconomicReview, 90-5:1160-1183 W S. Bowles, H. Gintis and M. Osborne, 2001, ‘The Determinants of Individual Earnings: Skills, Preferences, and Schooling’ Journal of Economic Literature, 39-4:1137-1176 D. Card, 2001, ‘Estimating the Return to Schooling: Progress on Some Persistent Econometric Problems’, Econometrica, 69-5:1127-60 J W. Easterly, 2001, The Elusive Quest for Growth, MIT Press R