Department of Education Schools Studying in South Africa

Education is not only pivotal to economic prosperity, but also crucial in enabling South Africans to improve the quality of their lives and contribute to a peaceful, productive and democratic nation.

According to the Bill of Rights contained in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (Act 108 of 1996), everyone has a right to a basic education, including adult basic education and further education, which the State, through reasonable measures, must make progressively available and accessible.

	University of Port Elizabeth.

Education is one of the most important long-term investment a country can make. South Africa has shown commitment to educate its nation by the substantial increase in the budget allocation. In the first ten years of democracy the budget allocation increased from R31.8 billion (1993) to R69 063 billion (2003). At almost 6 % of GDP, South Africa has one of the highest rates of government investment in education in the world.

Formal education in South Africa is categorised according to three levels. The General Education and Training (GET) band consists of Reception Year (Grade R) and learns up to Grade 9 and is equivalent to Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET) qualifications. The Further Education and Training (FET) band consists of all education and training from the National Qualifications

Framework (NOF) levels 2 to 4 (equivalent to Grades 10-12 in schools) and the National Technical Certificate 1-3 (FET) colleges. The Higher Education (HE) band consists of a range of degrees, diplomas and certificates up to and including post-doctoral degrees.

These levels are integrated with the NOF provided by South African Qualifications Authority (SAOA), 1995 (Act 58 of 1995).

South Africa has a single national education system, which is organised and managed by the National Department of Education and the nine provincial departments.

The Constitution has vested substantial power in the provincial legislatures and governments to educational affairs (other than universities and universities of technology or technicons) subject to national policy framework.

The Department of Education is responsible for formulating policy, setting norms and standards, and monitoring and evaluating all levels of education and also in funding HE institutions through subsides and by providing financial support to students through National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).

The Department of Education has a language policy, which stipulates that pupils have a right to be taught in a language of their choice and states that they must inform the school which language they wish to be taught in when applying for admission. Schools, in turn, are expected to take their requests into account and be seen to be working towards multilinguism.