Education
From The Report: South Africa 2013
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The government has made it clear that education is a priority, with more public resources going to the education system than any other sector. The 2013 budget allocates $28bn to education expenditure: $121m for teacher recruitment and up to $975m on facilities upgrades. The budget also includes $85m for developing technical secondary schools. Raising the country’s schools to international standards is an ongoing process with the construction, upgrading and maintenance of schools to improve infrastructure and broaden access. International organisations, non-governmental organisations and the private sector are all taking part in developing schooling in South Africa, from buildings through curricula and assessment to technology.
This chapter contains an interview with Kgosi Leruo Molotlegi, King of the Royal Bafokeng Nation.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

A national priority: Efforts to improve quality and expand enrolment continue, although they will likely require reforms
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The government has made it clear that education is a priority in South Africa, with more public resources going to the education system than any other sector. In the 2013 budget, it allocates some R232.5bn ($28bn), or 21.9% of the total R1.06trn ($121bn). Of education expenditure, R1bn ($121m) will go to teacher recruitment and up to R8bn ($975m) on upgrades to facilities, partly via the education infrastructure grant (EIG). The EIG was established in 2011 to accelerate the construction, upgrading…

Interview

For a better future: OBG talks to Kgosi Leruo Molotlegi, King of the Royal Bafokeng Nation
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Interview:Kgosi Leruo Molotlegi What is the best way to tackle educational inequality in rural areas? KGOSI LERUO MOLOTLEGI: A certain amount of the educational inequality in South Africa can be attributed to the history of policies under apartheid. However, much of it can also be attributed to poverty and marginalisation, which leads to the parents and school governing bodies (SGBs) in rural areas not understanding their rights and responsibilities under the constitution as they apply to…

Analysis

Research array: State-backed initiatives aim to expand local R&D
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Long Africa’s leading research and development (R&D) centre, concerns have been raised that investment was stalling and South Africa’s research competitiveness slipping, so the government is expanding R&D capacity. According to a report published in March 2013 by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), a South African humanities research institution, in 2009/10, the last year for which figures were available, South Africa’s gross expenditure on R&D totalled R20.9bn ($2.5bn),…