Over 18.5 million adult South Africans do not have a matric
THE COUNTRY’S educational outcomes challenges have been laid bare in the recently released Census 2022 results, but there are notable improvements, despite some grim findings.
The Census 2022 has revealed that there were at least over 18.5 million adults in the country who did not complete their secondary school education – or, simply put, they did not have a matric certificate – with black African and Coloured people being the most likely not to finish school in South Africa.
SA has an adult population of at least 40.5 million people aged 20 years and over, with the remaining 21.5 million aged 19 and younger.
It was announced on Tuesday that the population was 62 million and growing, including about 2.5 million counted foreign nationals.
This means that almost one in every two people do not have a matric certificate and/or has not completed their secondary school education.
The data shows that only 4.6 million people in the country had post-school education certificates — higher certificates, diplomas, and degrees. This means about one in 10 adults in the country has a post-school education.
By race, the data showed that black African and Coloured communities had the highest dropout rates in high school.
“Also important to note is that the black African and Coloured populations tend to be concentrated at some secondary education level, which may suggest higher dropout rates and limited progression to tertiary education. Conversely, the white and Indian/asian population groups are more likely to be concentrated in the completed secondary school and post-secondary education levels,” the Census 2022 noted.
The data showed that: – Less than 10% of black/ African adults had completed tertiary education, with 8.2% being men and 9.9% being women
– Less than 10% of Coloured adults had completed tertiary education, with 8.3% being men and 9.5% being women
– Over 20% of Asian/indian adults had post-school education, with 20.5% being men and 21.5% being women
– Almost 40% of white adults had post-school education, with 40.1% being men and 38.5% being women.
The graph below provides further details on the breakdown of education levels across the population groups.
About 1% of white people had no schooling, compared with about 3% for Coloured and Indian people, while about 8% of black Africans had no schooling.
“In terms of post-school education, the stark results are that disparities primarily exist among different population groups.
“For instance, regardless of sex, the white population group reported the highest percentage of post-school education attainment, followed by the Indian/ Asian population with half as much as that for the white population group.
“However, the notable sex differences appear primarily within the black African and coloured population groups. Both groups show lower levels of post-school education, and these levels are nearly comparable between the two population groups,” it said.
The Census 2022 data also showed that the number of people with no school had decreased substantially from the 19.1% in 1996 to 6.9% in 2022. There was also an improvement in the number of people completing high school, rising from 16.3% in 1996 to 37.6% in 2022.
In terms of tertiary-level education, there are now 4.6 million people with university or college education qualifications, an increase from 7.1% in 1996, 8.4% in 2001, 11.7% in 2011, and 12.2% in 2022.
FUN FACTS
– There are 50.4 million black African people in South Africa. In 2011 there were 41 million.
– There are 5 million coloured people in SA. In 2011 there were 4.6 million.
– There are 4.5 million white people in SA. In 2011 there were 4.5 million.
– There are 1.7 million Indian people in SA. In 2011 there were 1.2 million.
– KZN had 1.1 million Indian people living in the province, while Gauteng had the second most, with under 330 000, and the North West had 2 654 Indian residents, the least in the country.
– Gauteng and the Western Cape were preferred residences for white people, with 1.5 and 1.2 million, respectively, calling the province home. The Northern Cape was the least populated with white people, with just under 100 000 white people residing there.
– Coloured people were most likely to live in the Cape, where 3.1 million called the Western Cape province home, followed by 563 605 in the Northern Cape and 547 741 in the Eastern Cape. Coloured people account for close to half of the Western Cape population.
– Black African people were spread across the country, with Gauteng and the KZN province being home to 12.7 and 10.5 million, respectively. Only 679 000 black Africans lived in the Northern Cape, but they were the most in that province too.