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Education in South Africa

The education system and educational policy played a key role in South Africa not least in combating the apartheid regime. One of the saddest "highlights" in protesting against the regime was the Soweto uprising in 1976 also known as the students' protest. The lack of educational opportunities served to keep the Black population from participation in society and economy. In the case oft the Soveto uprising, for example, students protested against the introduction of Afrikaans as the sole language of instruction at school - Afrikaans being regarded as...

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the language of Boer suppressors and in many cases not the mother tongue they had been used to at school. Here as in many other cases, the critical issue concerns the mode of transition from such a native language to English, which is the predominant language of instruction in secondary and tertiary education in South Africa. Some of the best universities on the continent are located in South Africa. Long distance learning plays a key role in this context.

If you are interested in finding out more about the current situation and particularities of education in South Africa, we recommend the article "Das Bildungswesen in Südafrika" (2013) by Christine Rehklau -. The publisher has kindly granted permission to publish it online. The dossier offers information on the following aspects of education in South Africa:

General Information on Education

South Africa, Republic
The website, which is provided by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), provides a broad overview over research and education in South Africa, including information on statistics, educational reports, policy or cooperation with Germany and other countries. Additionally, you will find basic [...]

South Africa, Republic
The country dossier for South Africa, compiled by the International Bureau of Education of the Unesco (IBE), provides information on statistics (from the World Data on Education - WDE), national education reports, education plans and policies, a bibliography (partly with fulltexts) and links to other sources. [Abstract: [...]

South Africa, Republic; Germany
The website of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) provides ample information on academic exchange and cooperation with South Africa. Information only available in German. [Abstract: Editors of Education Worldwide]

Educational Policy (Ministries, Authorities & further National Bodies)

South Africa, Republic
This is the official website of the Ministry for Basic (primary and secondary) Education in South Africa. The website provides information on school development, different forms of performance assessment, materials for educators / teachers, information on educational management and administrative questions. Furthermore, [...]

South Africa, Republic
The website provides information on the structure and the work of the ministry. You will find documents (fulltext) on aims, programmes, strategies, reports, policies, legislation and more. Apart from the Ministry for Higher Education and Training there is also a Ministry for Basic Education (see for [...]

South Africa, Republic
The database Planipolis provides official fulltext documents on educational policy and planning from UNESCO member states. For South Africa you can find documents starting in the year 1997. Planipolis is provided by the UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP). [Abstract: Editors of Education [...]

South Africa, Republic
The website provides information on the structure and the work of the ministry. You will find documents (fulltext) on aims, programmes, strategies, reports, policies, legislation and more. [Abstract: Editors of Education Worldwide]

South Africa, Republic
The website presents the organization, e.g. its historical background and activities in the areas of education and training. There is a list of partners (government departments, research partners, international agencies) as well as detailed information about projects initiated or conducted by the CEPD. You will also find [...]

South Africa, Republic
Comissioned by the Minister of Higher Education and Training, the SAQA develops the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) for South Africa. It furthermore controlls the enforcement of the NQF and accredits educational institutions working according to the NQF. SAQA is also in charge of the accreditaion of foreign [...]

Educational Reports, Statistics, Assessments

South Africa, Republic
EMIS is a website of the Ministry of Basic Education. It provides a lot of information (fulltexts) on different educational reports and statistics, partly dating back to 1999.
Content (as of 2013):

- emis information
-> Contacts
- - Schools Masterlist Data
- - Statistical [...]

South Africa, Republic
The Unesco Institute for Statistics (UIS) provides the most recent basic data on education in South Africa. You will find information on the following issues:
* General information
* Education System
* Participation in education
* Progression and completion in education
* Education [...]

South Africa, Republic
The country dossier for South Africa, compiled by the International Bureau of Education of the Unesco (IBE), provides information on statistics (from the World Data on Education - WDE), national education reports, education plans and policies, a bibliography (partly with fulltexts) and links to other sources. [Abstract: [...]

South Africa, Republic
This interactive website is provided by the OECD. It can be used to compare South Africa's educational statistics with that of the average OECD results or with the results of other countries. For other countries, it is also possible to compare results from different international educational assessments (PISA,TALIS, [...]

(Professional) Associations and Unions

South Africa, Republic
"As an independent government agency, the NRF promotes and supports research in all fields of knowledge. It also conducts research and provides access to National Research Facilities." A focus is on natural sciences. The website provides a lot of information on projects, programmes, scholarships, research centres, [...]

South Africa, Republic; international
EASA is the professional organisation for educational research in South Africa. The website provides basic information on its structure, aims and membership, as well as a newsletter, activity reports, information on the annual EASA conference, and free access to the fulltexts of their e-journal "South [...]

South Africa, Republic
The South African ELRC is acting as a kind of agent for conflict resolution between different trade unions in the public education sector and the respective ministries in charge (acting as employers). The website provides information on their service for conflict resolution, on agreements, legislations and regulations, [...]

South Africa, Republic
"SACE is the professional council for educators, that aims to enhance the status of the teaching profession through appropriate Registration, management of Professional Development and inculcation of a Code of Ethics for all educators." The website provides information on the structure and work of SACE, including the [...]

South Africa, Republic
NTEU is the South African trade union for the tertiary education sector (university level). The webiste provides information on NTEU's structure, its work and services, its annual conference, relevant legislation, bargaining procedures and more. NTEU is not a member of the Educations Labour Relations Council (ELRC) which [...]

German Commitment in South Africa

Germany; South Africa, Republic
Official website of the German-South African Year of Science 2012/13. The main part of the website provides information on cooperation projects sorted by topics: Astronomy, Bioeconomy, Climate Change, Social Sciences & Humanities, Human Capital Development, Health Innovation, Urbanisation / Megacities. [...]

Germany; South Africa, Republic
Under the category "Bi- and Multilateral Cooperation" (in this case forwarded to "International Science Years"), the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) provides information on the Science Year 2012/2013 betwenn Germany and South Africa. Furthermore, you will find information on the [...]

Germany; South Africa, Republic
This site provides information on cooperation between Germany and South Africa in the field of education and research. The information is provided by the website "International Cooperation" of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. It is only available in German.
[Abstract: Editors of [...]

South Africa, Republic; Germany
This website provides information on the official cooperation in education and research between Germany and South Africa. Among others, this includes information on Opportunities for funding, the political framework, on priorities and highlights of the German-South African cooperation and more. Additionally, you [...]

Research Literature on Education in South Africa

The German Education Portal provides an integrated search over several databases in Germany and two international databases containing literature from the educational research. [Abstract: Editors of Education Worldwide]

The German Education Portal provides an integrated search over several databases in Germany and two international databases containing literature from the educational research. [Abstract: Editors of Education Worldwide]

Im Folgenden wird zunächst ein kurzer Überblick über die Geschichte Südafrikas gegeben (Kap. 1). Daran schließt sich die Betrachtung der Anfänge schulischer Bildung insbesondere im Missionsschulwesen an (Kap. 2). Im weiteren Fortgang wird das für Südafrika kennzeichnende Thema der Bildung im System der Apartheid abgehandelt (Kap. 3), bevor anschließend die Situation [...]

This article responds to a call for rethinking the science that we teach to school learners in South Africa. Much of the debate on the nature of science and science learning is reflected in a body of literature which analyses the tensions between disparate perspectives on science education. Post-colonialists, feminists, multiculturalists, sociologists of scientific knowledge [...]

South Africa`s BRICS Cooperations

India; Brazil; South Africa, Republic
The Dialogue Forum of India, Brazil and South Africa was established with the Brasilia Declaration in 2003. About once a year, the heads of the governments meet in Summits and the foreign ministers in Joint Ministerial Commissions. Besides trilateral cooperation on a political, economic and societal level, [...]

South Africa, Republic; international
[The Register including the search for treaties does not function currently. Therefore, we at least linked to the superordinate page for you. 05.01.16]

The South African Treaty Register is the official custodian of all international agreements of the Republic of South Africa with other states. [...]

India; South Africa, Republic
"The Centre for Indian Studies in Africa (CISA) was established at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), Johannesburg towards the end of 2007: the first in Africa to focus on India. In 2009, the Centre received major funding from the Mellon Foundation to establish a Chair in Indian Studies and fellowships [...]

"The paper studies the modalities which are used by China in its human resource cooperation with Africa in general, and where relevant with South Africa in particular. It covers the human resource dimensions of the Forum on China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), pledges, paying particular attention to the latest round of commitments from the November 2009 Ministerial Conference in [...]

China; Africa South of the Sahara
This article was published in the University World News and provides an overview over the current African-Chinese relationship and cooperation in the field of education. The author also compares this relationship to the nort-south relationship between Europe / USA and Africa. Milton O Obamba is a research [...]

This paper was presented at the China-Africa Links Workshop 2006 at the Center on China's Transnational Relations of the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology. "This paper reviews the course of Sino-African Education Cooperation from 1949 till present, and also summarizes its characteristics, experience, and lessons. The more-than-50-year Sino-African Education [...]