General household survey - Statistics South Africa

Statistics South Africa 6
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followed by KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape and Western Cape. Northern Cape, the least populous province,
also had the smallest number of households
4. Education
4.1 Introduction
Education is considered a principal instrument to achieve empowerment, economic growth and general
improvements in welfare. The South African Bill of Rights, as part of the national Constitution, protects the
right of everyone to basic education. This also includes adult basic education and further education.
By annually tracking a number of core educational indicators, particular aspects of the circumstances of
learners can be analysed. As noted earlier, the initial focus of this section is to provide an overview of
various aspects of the education profile of South Africans over the period 2002 to 2011. In this regard, the
report will highlight important patterns and trends with respect to educational attendance of persons aged
0–4 years, individuals currently attending schools and higher education institutions, general attendance
rates and educational achievements of individuals aged 20 years and older.
4.2 Educational profile of learners aged 0–4 years
Government has made significant efforts to increase access to early childhood development (ECD)
provisioning by introducing a reception programme as well as expanding the provisioning of services to
children from birth to four years 1 . Unfortunately it is difficult to measure the direct contribution of the state
towards ECD activities as most of the households interviewed will not have knowledge about the extent to
which the particular centre their child attends is supported by the government. Access to ECD activities is
therefore measured by enquiring about attendance in general as well as the extent to which the child is
exposed to ECD activities at home, at a centre or elsewhere.
Figure 1 summarises attendance of centres for young children aged 0–4 years and the extent to which they
were exposed to activities across provinces during 2011. Approximately 35% of South African children
attended ECD centres. The highest attendance was reported in Gauteng (43,6%) and Limpopo (42%).
Less than a quarter of children (24,9%) attended ECD centres in KwaZulu-Natal.
It is, however, notable that ECD activities are not provided at all these facilities. While 40,3% of children in
Gauteng attended centres where ECD activities were provided, only 17,2% of children in KwaZulu-Natal
attended such centres. Although centre-based ECD activities remain the preferred mode of delivery, the
results suggest that a much larger percentage of children received ECD stimulation at home. More than
three-quarters (78%) of children received ECD stimulation at home in Mpumalanga, followed by 61,8% in
Northern Cape and 61% in Western Cape.
Almost 90% of children aged 0–4 years received any form of ECD stimulation in Mpumalanga (86,8%)
compared to less than half (48,6%) in KwaZulu-Natal. Less than two-thirds (64,2%) of South African
children participated in ECD activities.
1 Education White Paper N. 5
General Household Survey, July 2011