51% of SA youth can't pay tertiary tuition
Furthermore, 18% of those who were not attending educational institutions attributed it to poor academic performance.
This is according to Stats SA’s thematic report titled Education Series Volume V Higher Education and Skills in South Africa.
The report, which uses data from the General Household Survey (GHS) 2017, indicates that only 33.8% of youth aged 18 - 24 were attending educational institutions.
Among those, 22.2% were attending school while 11.6% were attending post-school educational institutions.
Furthermore, the report shows that the general trend in participation in all institutions of post-school learning was upward, with total enrolment in higher education institutions in 2016 amounted to 49.9% of all enrolments within the sector.
The TVET colleges amounted to 30.8% of all enrolments; CET colleges 11.9% of all enrolments and private colleges 7.4% of all enrolments within the sector.
Despite gains in higher education participation rates, the report noted that gender disparity was still a challenge, as was participation equity for students from low-income backgrounds.
Female participation in 2016 at public universities was 58%, and 57% at TVET colleges.
Most students were enrolled in undergraduate NQF Level 7 programmes at universities, mostly studying for qualifications in the fields of business, commerce and management sciences, education or engineering.
Most students enrolled at TVET colleges in 2016 were studying for Report 191 qualifications.
Report 191 programmes also known as NATED are delivered under the auspices of the Department of Higher Education and Training and quality assured by Umalusi.
The programmes consist of 18 months of theoretical studies at colleges and 18 months of relevant practical application in workplaces.
Engineering studies range from N1 – N6 while Business and Utility Studies range from N4 – N6.
According to the report, the number of graduates from public higher universities more than doubled from 92,874 in 2000 to 203,076 in 2016.
In 2016, the number of graduates from TVET and private colleges stood at 135,492.
The time taken by students to complete their undergraduate qualifications has also improved over time.
However, the higher education system still has challenges in terms of their success rates and poor completion rates.
Many students drop out without completing a qualification, or they take up to six years to complete a three-year qualification.
Very few students progress to advanced NQF levels of study (NQF levels 8–10).
Honours students stood at 19.8%, masters 6.3% and doctoral studies 1.4% of the overall tertiary qualifications awarded in 2016.
According to the report, close to 47% of youth aged 20–24 years who held bachelor degrees or qualifications equivalent to NQF Level 7 came from the highest household income quintile.
In comparison, only 7.4% of youth who held qualifications equivalent to NQF Level 7 came from the lowest household income quintile.
Furthermore, close to 36% of youth holding postgraduate degrees or qualifications equivalent to NQF Levels 8–10 came from the highest household income quintile.