2.7 The unique South African context
2.7.2 The current education and skills development landscape in South Africa
manipulation of enrolment policies to limit transformation in some higher LSM schools (Jansen, 2002, De Wet and Wolhuter, 2009).
De Wet et al. (2009) consider the reasons for the apparent failures of key aspects of the execution of the education related ideologies that inspired the political leaders of post-apartheid South Africa and suggest that ‘demographic, economic and political realities’ can sometimes get in the way of their successful implementation. Examples in the South African context include the failure of the mergers of tertiary institutions and the floundering of OBE (outcomes based education) due to the realities of poorly resourced schools and inadequately qualified teachers (Jansen, 2002, Warnich and Wolhuter, 2009). De Wet et al. (2009) refer to a number of basic factors critical to educational transformation and development that appear not to have enjoyed appropriate levels of attention in the decades following 1994, such as the fact that 16% of public schools still had no electricity in 2009 and 67%
had no computers. Shockingly, the South African Institute of Race Relations reported in its South African Survey 2007/2008 that 15 years after the demise of Apartheid, only 46% of Grade 1 learners reached Grade 12 and that since 2003 the pass rate for matriculants has dropped significantly each year (The South African Institute of Race Relations, 2008).
2.7.2 The current education and skills development landscape in South Africa
Despite the ideological will and the not insignificant resources being poured into improving the state of basic education in South Africa, the system as a whole is dramatically under-performing. Literacy and numeracy scores are extremely low compared with international (and African) standards. Of the 12 million learners in the school system, 96% are enrolled at public schools. In 2010, the matric pass rate was 67.8%. Although this seems encouraging at first glance, it is also true that only 15% of these learners achieved an average mark of 40% or more. Black learners continue to lag significantly behind White learners on literacy and numeracy ratings and enjoy vastly inferior school infrastructure. As of 2009, approximately 2,799 schools did not have electricity, 412 schools were mud structures and 706 schools had no adequate sanitation system in place (National Planning Commission, 2011).
2.7.2.2 Higher education
The situation in higher education is no more encouraging. Each year about a million learners exit the school system. Approximately 65% of these learners do not have a Grade 12 certificate (Badat, 2010, Department of Basic Education, 2010).
South Africa’s higher education system comprises about 23 public universities and slightly more than 100 private higher education institutions whose offerings range from certificate courses to doctoral programmes. One of the positives of the post-1994 drive for transformation in education is the increase in student enrolments. Student enrolments have grown on average by 4.6% per year since 2000. Black student enrolments increased from 58% in 2000 to 65% in 2008, while White student enrolments dropped from 30% to 21% for the same period. In terms of gender equity, there has also been reasonable progress. Of the 473,000 enrolments in 1993, 202,000 (43%) were female, while by 2008 females made up 56.3% (450,584 of 799,388) of the total enrolments in higher education (Badat, 2010).
The increased enrolment numbers appear to be a positive trend. However, these students tend to be under-prepared for tertiary education and put added pressure on university student support systems.
Moreover, despite increased Black student enrolments, Black graduates as a percentage of all graduates decreased from 58% in 2000 to 53% in 2008 (National Planning Commission, 2011).
Interestingly, while Black student numbers increase rapidly, there continues to be a lag in the numbers of non-White academic staff. Whites still account for approximately 60% of academic staff at public higher education institutions. The statistics are similar in respect of gender- males make up about 56% of academic staff (Department of Basic Education, 2010). These are significant facts in the context of this study which investigates the impact of teacher student congruence in terms of race, home language and gender.
2.7.2.3 Vocational training
In 2011, about 10% of the one million school-leavers enrolled for general vocational programmes in FET (Further Education and Training) colleges. Prospects for these learners are not encouraging. Low throughput and enrolment growth rates are the hallmarks of these institutions. Furthermore, the standards of training provided are poor and thus work prospects are limited for FET graduates (National Planning Commission, 2011). Badroodien (2005) reviews the South African industrial skills development and training landscape and, while conceding that some progress has been made in terms of transformation agendas, notes that ‘beneficiaries of key training initiatives, particularly in terms of high end skills, remain White and male’.
2.7.2.4 The ICT sector
One of the biggest challenges facing the ICT sector is the shortage of quality professional skills. Not only is the number of students matriculating forecast to continue its downward trend to 2016, it is also of concern that of those who qualify for technical studies at institutions of higher learning (including software development, engineering and computer science), less than 8% elect to enroll in ICT studies, and this percentage will likely continue to decline at least until 2016. Of these students that choose to enroll in ICT studies, more are electing to study at universities of technology and the number of enrolments at universities continues to drop each year. Total student numbers graduating in ICT qualifications from universities will drop by 23% leading to 2016. Encouragingly, the percentage of Black African ICT graduates has steadily increased from 48% in 2004 to 66% in 2009, while White, Indian and Coloured ICT graduates have declined over the same period and are projected to continue to do so until 2016 at least. This increase in Black graduates is no doubt contributing to the perception that the industry is slowly moving away from being a White male dominated environment (ISETT SETA, 2010).
Despite the recession, South Africa’s ICT sector is expected to grow significantly over the next few years by about 5% per annum. This growth is expected to coincide with a concomitant demand for more ICT professionals. This may at first glance appear encouraging. However, the demand is for highly specialised skills and, as reported in the ISETT SETA’s Sector Skills Plan 2011-2016, the major employers of ICT skills continue to lament, not only the shortage of skills, but also the poor quality of ICT graduates coming from the institutions of higher learning (ISETT SETA, 2010).