Comparative Higher Education in South Africa by Bistra West and Jonathan Sun

Background of Education in South Africa

     Education in South Africa began very early in the 1800’s. The earliest schools established in South Africa was under the Dutch Reformed Church in Cape Colony. Also known as Cape of Good Hope. Basic math and literacy skills were taught. Language was a huge conflict amongst the South Africans in the 1800’s, they complained that the English language was irrelevant to their culture and values. From 1900’s, the British started taking over after victory in the South African War. The British instilled the English language and British culture into the education system. Again to overcome this invasion of the English language, the South African Churches formed a education program that South African schools should follow.

    From the early 1900’s until 1997, not only was language a issue but race was also a big issue in the education system. Most African schools were ran by missionaries and the white schools were ran by teachers from Canada, UK and Australia.  In 1953, the Bandu Education Act was passed and it caused a big problem. Under the act, African students had to learn things that the government wanted them to learn so that they can move on and work in factories also with the Bandu Education Act it cut out the minimal state funding that the African schools had. Therefore cutting out learning time for students in African schools because they would only be able to attend school for just three hours a day. The act was very racist that it basically meant that the African students have to learn and adjust to white culture since they were being ran by a white economy and society.

In 1997, the Curriculum 2005 policy was formed. Which is the South African’s version of outcome based education, which is an educational theory that focuses on an educational system that involves setting goals and accomplishing them by the time you finish your education. "The Curriculum 2005 promises all students a high-quality education that would prepare them for life.” According to (Horn, 2014, para. 5).

Problems with Higher Education in South Africa

Today, education in South Africa is still struggling.  Although there are over a million students across the 23 public universities in South Africa, only 15% of the undergraduates graduate. This is due to many reasons, such as the lack of academic support from universities for the students. Another reason is that the students are not academically ready to take on university.

There are many reasons to why the education system is still failing till this day. For one, teachers have a poor teaching skills and limited knowledge in the subject. Another reason for the failing education system is that students lack the funding to even finish a course in university. Lastly, students do not get sufficient time to properly learn. With the lack of knowledge from teachers and insufficient time to learn, "South Africa has one of the worst school systems in the world." According to (Smuts, 2014, para. 5).

Along with the problems mentioned above, learner and teacher related issues are also a problem. For example, cost of registration fees increasing for universities was a problem for many students. More students had to drop out due to financial constraints. In South Africa, the tuition for universities varies depending on your major. For example, in 2014, to get your bachelor’s in Arts from the University of Cape Town (UCT) was R 41,500 ($3,192) and to get your bachelor’s in Commerce was R 44,000 ($3,384). So when tuition increased in 2015 by 10.8% for bachelor’s in Arts from UCT and 13.6% for Commerce, students who were already financially constrained couldn’t afford it anymore. Therefore dropping out and not finishing their higher education.

    Violence in universities are also a big problem, “University administrators have been punched and taken hostage, buildings set afire, riot police called in, the higher-education minister burned in effigy, campuses shut down or placed under curfew, and exams delayed.” According to (Marcus, 2017, para. 5). Again due to increased tuition costs, a lot of violence occurs during protests from students. Another reason for violence is that inequality in the education systems. For example, with increase in tuition, students and families struggle to pay extra and many of the financially constrained students drop out or have a low success rate while the wealthy and white students have access to the best universities.

Tertiary Education and Issues in South Africa

As stated by the Central Intelligence Agency in 2014 records, the South African government expends 6.1% of the country’s GDP on education. The agency measures that 94.3% of individuals can read and write, 95.5% male and 93.1% female. In South Africa, the school life expectancy ranging from primary to tertiary stages, including repetition of classes, is 13 years on average for both genders. Although individuals have a strong academic foundation, South Africa has one of the highest unemployment rates of 26.5%. The crude birth rate is a high 20.5 births per 1000 people and the crude death rate is 9.6 deaths per 1000 people, indicating a young population. South Africa is ranked first with almost 7 million people out of 50 million living with HIV and ranked second with 182,400 people that die from AIDS. This is indicative of a lack in sex education and available contraception, as well as many cases of rape.3 South Africa has the fifth-highest per capita income in Africa, although poverty and inequality remain widespread, with about a quarter of the population unemployed and living on less than $1.25 a day.7 Gaps between the rich and the poor remain, Equipment of public utilities is under pressure and the country prevails to have one of the highest rates of rape and domestic violence in the world, with approximately 150 reported sexual assaults and 50 murders per day. This also facilitates the spread of HIV/AIDS in South Africa.6 According to BBC, South Africa’s educational system is in crisis, not because of the lack of funding, but because of poor teaching, the continuing legacy of apartheid and the many who drop out of school to go on to manage mini-businesses.2


Types of Institutions

There are 23 public universities in total, of which 11 are general, 6 of them technological and the 6 left are comprehensive. Universities offer basic formative degrees such as Bachelor of Arts & Bachelor of Science, and professional undergraduate degrees such as Bachelor of Engineering, Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery. At postgraduate level, universities offer honors degrees, and an array of masters and doctoral degrees.Technological universities offer mainly vocational or career‐focused undergraduate diplomas, and a Bachelor of Technology, which serves as a limited qualification for diploma graduates. They offer a limited number of masters and doctoral programs. Comprehensive universities offer programs for both theoretically oriented and vocationally oriented diplomas and degrees.7

Tuition fees

At Wits they range from R94,700 up to R177,770 (£5,987–11,239) for clinical courses. At Cape Town, international students pay a minimum (R70,000/£4,425) of the standard course fee plus an international student fee of R35,000 (£2,213) a year (total minimum R110,000/£6,955).

In addition, Wits, for example, recommends that students budget for an additional R6,000 (£380) for books and stationery.7 International students are not eligible for support from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme.1 The major banks offer loans to foreigners who have proof of a study permit.7

Accomplishments from Higher Education in South Africa

One of the most notorious accomplishments was by Nelson Mandela. Mandela studied law in University of Fort Hare and University of Witwatersrand. He became president of South Africa in 1994 and served in office until 1999. He received a Nobel Peace Prize for ending the apartheid policies that were ingrained in the South African society. Before desegregation in 1994, segregation divided universities for the black majority and the white minority. He has been recognized for bringing about unity in South Africa after many decades.5  

Grading System for Higher Education

Scale	Grade Description	Division	US Grade
75.00 - 100.00	First Class		A
70.00 - 74.99	Second Class	Division One	B+
60.00 - 69.99	Second Class	Division Two	B
50.00 - 59.99	Third Class		C
0.00 - 49.99	Fail		F