South Africa's education landscape is dominated by public schools, which account for over 90 percent of the country's nearly 25,000 educational institutions. As of 2024, there are 22,381 public schools compared to 2,469 independent schools. This stark contrast highlights the government's significant role in providing education to the nation's youth and underscores the challenges faced in ensuring quality education across such a vast network of schools. Regional disparities in school distribution and staffing KwaZulu-Natal leads the nation with 6,030 schools, followed by the Eastern Cape and Limpopo. However, when it comes to teaching staff, Gauteng takes the top spot with 98,140 educators, despite having fewer schools than KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape. This disparity suggests varying student-to-teacher ratios across provinces, potentially impacting educational quality and outcomes. The concentration of independent school teachers in Gauteng also indicates a more diverse educational landscape in the province. Education's impact on employment prospects The distribution of schools and teachers across South Africa has far-reaching implications for the country's workforce. As of the fourth quarter of 2023, the unemployment rate stood at 32.1 percent, with individuals having less than a matric education constituting the largest portion of the unemployed. In contrast, university graduates had the lowest unemployment rate at approximately 10 percent. This stark difference underscores the critical importance of accessible, quality education in improving employment prospects and addressing South Africa's persistent unemployment challenges.

The tabular and visual dataset focuses on South African basic education and provides insights into the distribution of schools and basic population statistics across the country. This tabular and visual data are stratified across different quintiles for each provincial and district boundary. The quintile system is used by the South African government to classify schools based on their level of socio-economic disadvantage, with quintile 1 being the most disadvantaged and quintile 5 being the least disadvantaged. The data was joined by extracting information from the debarment of basic education with StatsSA population census data. Thereafter, all tabular data and geo located data were transformed to maps using GIS software and the Python integrated development environment. The dataset includes information on the number of schools and students in each quintile, as well as the population density in each area. The data is displayed through a combination of charts, maps and tables, allowing for easy analysis and interpretation of the information.

As of 2024, the total number of teaching staff in South Africa amounted to 459,993. Of those, the majority were educators in public education entities, with 412,638. By contrast, independent education teachers represented around 11 percent of the cumulative number of teachers.

South Africa ZA: Educational Attainment: At Least Bachelor's or Equivalent: Population 25+ Years: Female: % Cumulative data was reported at 5.716 % in 2015. South Africa ZA: Educational Attainment: At Least Bachelor's or Equivalent: Population 25+ Years: Female: % Cumulative data is updated yearly, averaging 5.716 % from Dec 2015 (Median) to 2015, with 1 observations. South Africa ZA: Educational Attainment: At Least Bachelor's or Equivalent: Population 25+ Years: Female: % Cumulative data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s South Africa – Table ZA.World Bank: Education Statistics. The percentage of population ages 25 and over that attained or completed Bachelor's or equivalent.; ; UNESCO Institute for Statistics; ;

South Africa ZA: School Enrollment: Primary: % Net data was reported at 80.030 % in 2015. This records a decrease from the previous number of 85.878 % for 2005. South Africa ZA: School Enrollment: Primary: % Net data is updated yearly, averaging 88.013 % from Dec 1970 (Median) to 2015, with 13 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 92.585 % in 1995 and a record low of 64.903 % in 1970. South Africa ZA: School Enrollment: Primary: % Net data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s South Africa – Table ZA.World Bank: Education Statistics. Net enrollment rate is the ratio of children of official school age who are enrolled in school to the population of the corresponding official school age. Primary education provides children with basic reading, writing, and mathematics skills along with an elementary understanding of such subjects as history, geography, natural science, social science, art, and music.; ; UNESCO Institute for Statistics; Weighted average; Each economy is classified based on the classification of World Bank Group's fiscal year 2018 (July 1, 2017-June 30, 2018).

Full-time equivalent enrolments of students with a verified disability by education setting, collected from 2012 as part of the annual enrolment data collection in Term 3. Students with a disability are those students who are verified by a Department for Education psychologist or speech pathologist as eligible for the Department for Education Disability Support Program. Education settings include Mainstream Classes, Special Classes, Special Units and Special Schools. Special Classes are located within some junior primary, primary and secondary schools. They provide a setting for learners with a disability who need extensive curriculum support, for a short or long-term placement. Special Units are located within some primary and secondary schools. They provide long-term educational options in a mainstream school for learners with very significant or multiple disabilities. Special Units and Special Schools both cater for a similar range of learner needs. The difference is that Special Units provide an option within a mainstream school, while Special Schools provide the option in a separate setting.

Higher education performance indicators

The gross tertiary enrollment ratio in South Africa increased by 1.8 percentage points (+7.1 percent) in 2022 in comparison to the previous year. With 27.17 percent, the gross tertiary enrollment ratio thereby reached its highest value in the observed period. Notably, the gross tertiary enrollment ratio continuously increased over the last years.The gross tertiary enrollment ratio refers to the number of students enrolled in tertiary education regardless of age expressed as a percentage of the population of the age group corresponding to the given level.Find more statistics on other topics about South Africa with key insights such as Gender Parity Index (GPI) in youth literacy, gross enrollment ratio for secondary school students , and Gender Parity Index (GPI) for gross enrollment in tertiary education.

In 2022, approximately 76 percent of individuals aged 7 to 24 years attended educational institutions in South Africa. While Mpumalanga experienced a slight increase of 0.1 percentage points over that period, other provinces like the Northern Cape, Western Cape, and Free State experienced higher increases of 7.3, 6.4, and 5.4 percentage points, respectively.

In 2023, the number of children out of school in South Africa amounted to over 919,000, representing an increase of around 62 percent compared to the previous year. Out-of-school children are the number of school-age children enrolled in primary or secondary school, minus the total population of the official primary school-age children.Find more statistics on other topics about South Africa with key insights such as gross enrollment ratio for secondary school students , youth literacy rate (people aged 15-24), and duration of compulsory education.

Contains data from the World Bank's data portal. There is also a consolidated country dataset on HDX.

Education is one of the most powerful instruments for reducing poverty and inequality and lays a foundation for sustained economic growth. The World Bank compiles data on education inputs, participation, efficiency, and outcomes. Data on education are compiled by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Institute for Statistics from official responses to surveys and from reports provided by education authorities in each country.

The overall aim of the USAID/SA basic education program is to improve primary grade reading outcomes by building teacher effectiveness and strengthening classroom and school management. This is being accomplished through support to innovative, local interventions that have a demonstrated capacity for scale-up. The main USAID/SA program is the School Capacity and Innovation Program (SCIP), which also leverages significant private sector resources, amplifying the impact of USAID’s investment in the South African education system. SCIP is co-funded by The ELMA Foundation and J.P. Morgan and designed in collaboration with the South African Department of Basic Education. SCIP supports local South African models or interventions that work directly with teachers and school management teams in innovative ways in order to improve their practice as instructional leaders and managers. SCIP is aligned to the USAID Global Education Strategy (2011–2015) which supports interventions to improve learning outcomes with a focus on primary grade reading as a measure of performance. In addition to seeking initiatives that demonstrate innovation and impact, sustainability and scalability are key components of the SCIP program. The Strengthening Teaching of Early Language and Literacy (STELLAR) Program improves the language and literacy skills of Grade R children from disadvantaged communities in South Africa by training and supporting Grade R teachers. Grade R (also called the Reception Year) is the year of schooling before Grade 1.

The Index of Educational Disadvantage for SA Government schools, each year from 2017 (not 2019).\r \r The Index of Educational Disadvantage is a socio-economic index, used by the Department for Education to allocate resources to schools to address educational disadvantage related to socio-economic status. \r \r The most disadvantaged schools have an index of 1, the least disadvantaged have an index of 7. \r \r More information on the Index of Educational Disadvantage is available at \r https://www.education.sa.gov.au/sites/g/files/net691/f/educational_disadvantage_index_explanation.pdf

Saudi Arabia SA: Persistence to Grade 5: % of Cohort data was reported at 78.130 % in 2015. This records a decrease from the previous number of 92.613 % for 2013. Saudi Arabia SA: Persistence to Grade 5: % of Cohort data is updated yearly, averaging 93.248 % from Dec 2007 (Median) to 2015, with 4 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 98.956 % in 2011 and a record low of 78.130 % in 2015. Saudi Arabia SA: Persistence to Grade 5: % of Cohort data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Saudi Arabia – Table SA.World Bank: Education Statistics. Persistence to grade 5 (percentage of cohort reaching grade 5) is the share of children enrolled in the first grade of primary school who eventually reach grade 5. The estimate is based on the reconstructed cohort method.; ; United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Institute for Statistics.; Weighted average;

In 2018, the population group in South Africa with the highest share in primary education was Black African. This represented 91.2 percent of the share of children between the ages of six and 13 attending primary educational institutions in the country. Moreover, some 90.5 percent of the Colored children were enrolled in primary education. The population group with the lowest level of enrollment in primary education was the Asian/Indian population, at 85.1 percent.

As of 2022, the total number of schools in South Africa amounted to nearly 24,900. The majority of these schools were public entities, covering around 90.8 percent of the total number of schools. On the other hand, only 2,282 schools were independent educational institutions. It is worth noting that KwaZulu-Natal was the province with the highest number of schools as of the said year.

KwaZulu-Natal has the largest number of teachers, Gauteng ranked second

Besides the number of schools in KwaZulu-Natal, the province also had the highest number of teachers, aggregating to around 96,000. Over 95 percent of them taught in public schools. Moreover, although the Gauteng province followed Eastern Cape and Limpopo in number of schools, it ranked second in number of teachers, totaling 93,453. Public educational institutions employed most of the teaching staff. The province also had the highest count of independent educators. Generally, in each region, the increasing trend in the number of teachers meets the growing volume of student enrollees.

Almost half of the unemployed have less than matric    

Unemployment was more prevalent among individuals with lower educational attainment. As of 2022, slightly over 50 percent of the unemployed individuals in the country had an academic level below matric. On the other hand, tertiary graduates made up 2.8 percent of the unemployed. Moreover, the share of adults over 20 years old who completed grade 12 reached 35.9 percent in 2021, making it the most achieved educational status that year. By comparison, 14.6 percent of student attained post-school education. Between 2012 and 2019, South Africa’s gross tertiary enrollment ratio increased from just over 19 percent to around 24 percent.

Spatial dataset of open government education sites. Includes schools and preschools. Updated nightly from the Department for Education Location Sites and Services database.

In 2018, tertiary education attainment was highest among the White population in South Africa, with around 43.2, 41.3 and 5.6 percent of the individuals associated with Generation X, Millennials, and Born-free Millennials, respectively. Moreover, compared to the generation of Millennials, tertiary school completion was higher in all population groups in Generation X, except among Indians/Asians. Furthermore, the total share of Millennials who received a tertiary education (12.9 percent) was slightly lower than that of Generation X. However, the source indicates that a possible explanation to that is that some of the Millennials were still obtaining their higher education degrees.

Students and Courses and Apprentices and Trainees: These statistics cover administrative data sets on student enrolments and qualifications attained with approximately 2 million students enrolling on vocation education and training in Australia each year, 400,000 graduates each year, and around 400,000 people in training as part of an apprenticeship or traineeships. Demographic information on students as well as the qualification they are training in and where the training took place are included. Courses are classified by intended occupation on completion, and field of study. Student Outcomes Survey: In addition a graduate destination survey is run capturing information on the quality of training, occupations before and after training, salary, and further education. Under data tab each collection appears and can be selected individually for information excel files and publications, under data data are three resources, Vocstats datacubes, VET Students by Industry, VET Graduates outcomes, salaries and jobs. http://www.ncver.edu.au For an overview of the statistics please see the following publication https://www.ncver.edu.au/publications/publications/all-publications/statistical-standard-software/avetmiss-data-element-definitions-edition-2.2# Datasets to be attributed to National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER). https://www.ncver.edu.au/ Register for VOCSTATS by visiting the website (http://www.ncver.edu.au/wps/portal/vetdataportal/data/menu/vocstats)

As of 2022, 5.5 percent of Black Africans aged 18 to 29 were enrolled at a higher education institution in South Africa, which marks an increase of 2.6 percentage points compared to 2002. And while Black Africans constituted the majority of young adult students in numbers, the participation rate of this population group continued to be lower compared to the Indian/Asians at 19.6 percent and the white population group at 17.7 percent.