Newsletter 147 - A quarter of South Africans aged seven to 24 not in education
Only 73% of South Africans aged seven to 24 attend an educational institution, according to the 2010 General Household Survey published by Statistics South Africa. The remaining 27% are not in education for various reasons including lack of funds, working at home, inability to perform, and the view that education is useless.
Some 27% of South Africans aged seven to 24 do not attend an educational institution. Of those not attending, only 7% have completed their studies. Among other reasons, 36% say that they are not in education owing to lack of funds, while 20% work. Almost 6% aren’t in education because they think it is useless, while only 2% cite pregnancy as a reason.
KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape, and Mpumalanga have the highest proportions of individuals who are not in education owing to lack of funds, at 45%, 39%, and 39% respectively. This is despite the fact that there are many educational institutions in each province which do not charge for tuition. The proportion of pupils in the country who do not pay tuition fees has increased from 0.7% in 2002 to 55% in 2010.
Gauteng and the Western Cape have the highest proportions of people aged seven to 24 who work, at 30% and 26% respectively.
The highest proportion of individuals who do not attend an educational institution because they think education is useless is in the Eastern Cape, at 10%. Only 1% of those not in education in Limpopo have the same view.
Why individuals aged seven to 24 are not attending an educational institution, by province, 2010
Reason | EC | FS | GP | KZN | LP | MP | NC | NW | WC | SA |
Failed exams | 4.3% | 4.6% | 2.0% | 3.3% | 13.4% | 6.8% | 1.6% | 1.3% | 1.1% | 4.0% |
Pregnancy | 2.6% | 3.6% | 0.8% | 2.3% | 3.1% | 2.5% | 1.4% | 1.6% | 2.5% | 2.1% |
Inability to perform | 5.8% | 3.1% | 3.1% | 3.1% | 5.4% | 4.1% | 7.9% | 4.4% | 2.6% | 3.9% |
View that education is useless | 10.2% | 8.0% | 2.2% | 6.2% | 0.9% | 2.4% | 5.7% | 7.0% | 8.0% | 5.5% |
Family commitment | 6.8% | 7.7% | 5.5% | 5.1% | 12.2% | 5.7% | 10.6% | 7.5% | 4.1% | 6.4% |
Work | 15.4% | 18.5% | 29.9% | 16.2% | 14.2% | 18.2% | 19.4% | 18.1% | 26.3% | 20.3% |
Lack of funds | 38.8% | 32.0% | 37.6% | 45.2% | 26.5% | 38.7% | 19.7% | 35.4% | 25.5% | 36.4% |
Completed studies | 2.7% | 8.4% | 4.5% | 7.1% | 4.0% | 5.4% | 21.3% | 6.4% | 15.2% | 6.8% |
Other | 13.4% | 14.2% | 14.5% | 11.5% | 20.3% | 16.3% | 12.4% | 18.2% | 14.6% | 14.5% |
Total | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
Source: Statistics South Africa, General Household Survey 2010, August 2011
a. ‘Other’ includes too young/old, educational institution too far, difficulties getting to an educational institution, lack of time, illness, marriage, disability, violence at educational institution, not accepted for enrolment, and other unspecified reasons.
Note: The percentages in each column may not add up to 100% owing to rounding.
- Lerato Moloi
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