Education
• Forty percent of the Free State budget
goes to education
• Eleven new schools are being built in 2009
Education in South Africa
Nearly 20% of the national government’s annual budget is devoted to education. A three-tier system is followed encompassing primary, secondary and tertiary levels. Most schools and tertiary institutions are state-run, but the sector has a very lively private or independent component.
Just over 12 million school pupils are enrolled at approximately 26 000 schools across the nine provinces, taught by about 400 000 teachers. There are currently more than a million students studying at universities or universities of technology (formerly known as technikons). The University of South Africa is one of the world’s largest distance-education institutions, with more than a quarter of a million students.
Schooling in the Free State
Approximately 750 000 scholars are taught by
23 000 teachers at 1 843 schools. The rural
nature of much of the province is illustrated
by the fact that there are 865 farm schools
and that nearly 10 000 pupils use transport
services provided by the provincial government.
Forty percent of the province’s budget goes
to education, amounting to R7.8-billion for the
2009/10 financial year. Fully 79% of Free State
school pupils now attend no-fee schools and
more than 400 000 primary-school pupils
receive hot meals and bread as part of the
National School Nutrition Programme.
Backlogs in educational infrastructure are being addressed and investments in computer systems have been made. In 2008/09, 335 schools were either renovated or received important basic services such as water, sanitation or fencing. By the end of 2009, 11 new schools will have been built and substantial upgrading done to another four.
The provincial Department of Education has entered into several partnerships. The Kagiso Trust and Absa Bank are the major contributors to the Academy of Learning, on the premises of Grey College in Bloemfontein, where pupils from poorer areas are exposed to high-quality teaching. First National Bank supports a similar scheme in Bethlehem.
Grey College is one of the country’s most prestigious state schools. As one of a handful of schools to be founded more than 150 years ago, Grey has a long history of achievement in many fields. Sentraal and Brebner are other well-known Bloemfontein schools, while larger towns like Kroonstad and Welkom also all have good schools. Albertina Sisulu Senior Secondary, in the sparsely populated southern Xhariep area, has shown that rural schools can achieve good results, with a matriculation examination pass rate above 80% in recent years. Moroka High School, which was established as a Methodist mission school called Thaba Nchu in 1937, is in line to be restored by the national Historical Schools Project.
There are 69 private (or independent) schools in the Free State. One of South Africa’s most successful sports academies is situated in the northern Free State town of Virginia. Established by the Nedbank Sports Trust and Harmony Gold Mining, the school is for boys between the ages of 14 and 18. Its 70 students attend local high schools but the talented youngsters play all their sport for the academy.
Fewer than 5% of South Africa’s schools have libraries, so the Free State Province was delighted to receive a donation of 8 700 books from the Sony Corporation for its mobile library service in 2009.
Tertiary education
The province’s three major tertiary institutions
have teamed up to form the Free State Higher
Education Consortium, whereby the University
of the Free State (UFS), the Central University
of Technology (CUT) and the Free State School
of Nursing collaborate and share expertise.
UFS, which recently became the first South African university to appoint a black rector in Professor Jonathan Jansen, caters for 17 500 students at two sites (Bloemfontein and Phuthaditjhaba) and a further 3 000 who study by correspondence. Six faculties offer a full range of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. The well-regarded Centre for Financial Planning Law offers graduates access to membership of the Financial Planning Institute of South Africa.
CUT has a main campus in Bloemfontein and branches in Welkom and Kimberley, in the adjacent Northern Cape Province. There are three faculties: Engineering and Information and Communication Technology, Health and Environmental Sciences, and Management Sciences.
FET colleges and Abet
Further Education and Training (FET) colleges
were introduced in South Africa in 2002 and
aim to customise students’ qualifications to the
demands of the economy. This is in line with
outcomes-based-education theory adopted by
South African schools.
Courses offered range
from engineering,
business and marketing
studies to haircare,
welding and bricklaying.
Four FET colleges are situated in the Free State, although they have multiple sites. Maluti FET College in Phuthaditjhaba, for example, offers classes at eight sites. Flavius Mareka FET College has Kroonstad and Sasolburg venues. Motheo FET College operates in Bloemfontein and Thaba Nchu, while Goldfields FET College is in Welkom.
The provincial government has undertaken a three-year project to recapitalise FET colleges in the hope that better-resourced colleges will be able to contribute more towards producing skilled workers. Physical infrastructure has been upgraded, information systems improved and bursaries disbursed.
Adult Basic Education and Training (Abet) centres are an important component in tackling illiteracy. Nearly 30 000 adults receive training and basic education at various centres throughout the province.
KEY CONTACTS
Central University of Technology: www.cut.ac.za
Council of Higher Education: www.che.ac.za
FET Colleges: www.fetcolleges.co.za
Free State Higher Education Consortium:
www.fshec.co.za
Free State Department of Education:
www.fsdoe.fs.gov.za
National Department of Education:
www.education.gov.za
National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of
South Africa: www.naptosa.org.za
South African Democratic Teachers’ Union:
www.sadtu.org.za
University of the Free State: www.uovs.ac.za
