part a: strategic overview - Department of Education

The districts with the highest proportion of 7-18 year olds are Cofimvaba, Bizana and Lady
Frere, all with in excess in 38%. Typically, higher proportions are found in rural areas, which
may be a function of rural-urban migration of the working age population in search of
employment. Note that the districts with established urban centres such as East London, Port
Elizabeth and Uitenhage all have much lower proportions of 7-18 year olds, being lower than
25%.
This point is illustrated by the graph 4 below, which shows the comparative age structure in
two very different districts demographically, Port Elizabeth and Cofimvaba. They are at
opposite ends of the district spectrum in terms of the relative age distribution of their
populations.
Graph 4: Comparative Population Distribution by Age Band in Two Selected Districts
Percentage of total
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
0 to 6 %
7 to 18 %
19 to 64 %
65+ %
Cofimvaba Port Elizabeth
Table 11: Distribution of Total Population per age group by Education District indicated by 1996 & 2001
Census
District Total Population aged 7-18, 1996 Total Population aged 7-18, 2001
% of Total
population
aged 7-18,
2001
Bizana 83 468 92 999 38%
Butterworth 101 192 104 111 36%
Cofimvaba 77 959 74 838 39%
Cradock 27 714 27 475 30%
East London 134 018 139 771 25%
Ngcobo 71 951 75 672 37%
Fort Beaufort 50 690 45 181 29%
5 Year ECDoE Strategic Plan for 2005-06 2005/06 to 2009-10. 2009/10 March 21 F (3) 2006 Page 65Page
61