30 / 172
28
HSRC Annual Report 2016/17
South African Education and Skills Levels
Each year around
140 000
grade 12 students
complete the matriculation examination with a
bachelor’s
pass.
Of these, only around
50 000
students
pass
mathematics
with a score higher than
50%
In 2014, there were around
1.1 million
students in the
university sector
and
0.8 million
students in the
TVET sector
The education and skill levels of the South African population are lower than most productive economies. A critical
constraint for the post-school education and training system and the labour market is the quality of basic education.
Presently, each year, around 140 000 grade 12 students complete the matriculation examination with a bachelor’s pass,
yet of these only around 50 000 students pass mathematics with a score higher than 50%. The pool of students that can
potentially access university and science-based Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programmes
is very small in comparison to the skills demands of the country. In 2014, there were around 1.1 million students in the
university sector and 0.8 million students in the TVET sector.
The analysis revealed that nearly half of the higher education graduates are employed in the community, social and
personal services sectors, which are dominated by the public sector. A high proportion of science and engineering
graduates from both the university and TVET sectors prefer to work in the financial services sector, as opposed to the
manufacturing sector. SET qualifications are versatile, and graduates will move into different fields of work. The implication
for skills planning is that a larger number of SET graduates is needed than the number of SET occupations.
A Research Colloquium was co-hosted by the LMIP and DHET on 29 and 30 September 2016, which aimed to create a
new space for researchers, policymakers, planners, educators and trainers to engage, by sharing frameworks, approaches
and practices of skills planning.
PART B: Performance Overview