South Africans Give Mixed Reviews On Govt's Performance On Education

4 April 2025
Afrobarometer (Accra)
By Asafika Mpako and Stephen Ndoma

Attainment still reflects large gaps by economic status and race.

Key findings

  • More than eight in 10 South Africans (84%) have secondary (55%) or post-secondary (29%) education, while 12% have primary schooling and 3% have no formal education. o Youth have more education than their elders, and women and men are at parity in post-secondary education. o But striking educational disadvantages persist for poor respondents and Black/African and Coloured/mixed-race citizens.
  • Almost half (46%) of South Africans say school-age children who are not in school are a "somewhat frequent" or "very frequent" problem in their community.
  • Among citizens who had contact with public schools during the year preceding the survey, more than eight in 10 (84%) say they found it easy to obtain the services they needed. o Seven in 10 (70%) say that teachers or other school officials treated them with respect. o But one-tenth (9%) say they had to pay a bribe to get the needed services. Poor and less educated respondents are more likely than their well-off and more educated counterparts to report having to pay a bribe to a teacher or school official.
  • About half (48%) of South Africans think their government is performing "fairly well" or "very well" on education, while the other half (49%) give their leaders poor marks.

On 13 September 2024, President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Bill into law (South African Government News Agency, 2024). This act seeks to enhance access and reduce inequities in South Africa's education system by allowing the Department of Basic Education to have the final word on school language and admission policies, regulating home schooling, changing the compulsory school-starting age to Grade R (the year before first grade), criminalising parental failure to ensure that their children are in school, and confirming the ban on corporal punishment (Thorne, 2024).

South Africa's education system is plagued by persistent economic inequalities and poor learning outcomes that have their roots in the legacy of apartheid (Amnesty International, 2020). A 2022 profile of education enrolment, attainment, and progression in South Africa shows that a mere 9.3% of the country's black majority hold a tertiary qualification compared to 39.8% of the white demographic (Statistics South Africa, 2022).

While some parts of the new act have been widely celebrated, others have drawn heavy criticism. Clauses 4 and 5, in particular, related to school language and admissions policies, have met with resistance from some groups who argue that the act is part of an agenda to eradicate Afrikaans in the 10% of South African schools that use the language as a medium of instruction (Lawal, 2024; Colditz; 2018). Others instead see this as an opportunity to promote inclusion and address historical injustices in schooling (Brand South Africa, 2025). Following a three-month suspension of the implementation of these two controversial clauses to allow for further consultation, the government resolved that the act will be fully implemented without any amendments (Bakharia, 2024).

This dispatch examines South Africans' experiences and evaluations of their education system.

Findings from Afrobarometer's most recent survey, conducted in late 2022, indicate that while younger South Africans tend to have more education than their elders, educational attainment varies widely by economic status and race. Nearly half of citizens report out-of school children as a frequent problem in their community.

Among adults who had contact with a public school in the year preceding the survey, most say they found it easy to obtain the services they needed and were treated with respect. But one in 10 report having to pay bribes, a form of corruption most often victimising the least educated and poorest citizens.

Overall, only half of South Africans give their government a passing grade for its performance on education.

Asafika Mpako Asafika is the communications coordinator for Southern Africa

Stephen Ndoma Stephen is the assistant project manager for Southern Africa

Read the original article on Afrobarometer.

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