South African Business 2016 edition

OVERVIEW Education and

OVERVIEW Education and training Education and training is possibly the most critical factor in achieving a sustainable future. South Africa is investing heavily in education to empower future generations, with South African universities winning increased recognition in several global surveys. Higher education South Africa has 23 public higher education institutions: 11 universities, six comprehensive universities and six universities of technology. There are also 87 registered and 27 provisionally registered private higher education institutions. The University of Cape Town has 40% of South Africa’s A-rated researchers (32) and a strong international reputation. QS World University Rankings put UCT among the world’s top 100 universities for the quality of its teaching in eight subjects: education, history and archaeology, geography, English, politics, psychology, earth and marine sciences, and law. The university gained a top- 200 ranking for 19 other subjects UCT is rated as Africa’s top university and is ranked in joint 120th position in the world according to The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2015-2016, which list the best global universities and are the only international university performance tables to judge world class universities across all of their core missions - teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook. The University of Pretoria and the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) are also highly regarded as research institutions. Wits has been ranked in the top 1% of world institutions in seven fields of research. The university offers studies in more than 40 schools in five faculties. South African universities also feature highly on the Quacquarelli Symonds University Rankings, which placed eight of South Africa’s universities in the top 100 universities in BRICS, with the highest placed institutions being UCT (14) Wits (28), Stellenbosch (34) and Pretoria (49). There are six comprehensive universities in South Africa, offering diplomas and degrees with a mix of vocational and academic programmes. These institutions grew out of mergers between universities and colleges. The University of South Africa (UNISA) offers correspondence courses. Its headquarters are in Pretoria but it has sites throughout South Africa. UNISA has a staff of more than 4 000 and 300 000 registered students in South Africa and Africa. Universities of technology have a specific focus on SOUTH AFRICAN BUSINESS 2016 132

educating young people in fields that will enhance the country’s economic performance. Technology is at the core of the learning experience. Most institutions have multiple campuses. Plans are in place for universities to be established in the only provinces that currently do not have one, the Northern Cape and Mpumalanga. The Northern Cape has two FET colleges, Mpumalanga has three. According to the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, funding for bursaries to support students at tertiary level increased to R8.2 billion in 2013, . Business schools Gauteng has three of South Africa’s top five business schools: the Wits Business School, the University of South Africa’s (Unisa’s) Graduate School of Business Leadership and the Gordon Institute of Business Science. The Graduate School of Business (UCT) is accredited by the European Foundation for Management Development while Stellenbosch’s Business School has a specialist unit called the Centre for Project Management Intelligence. The University of KwaZulu- Natal’s Graduate School of Business is a founder member of the Association of BRICS Business Schools. Rhodes University’s Business School has a strong focus on environmental management. Schools OVERVIEW South Africa has 26 000 public schools. The Education Department’s 2007 statistical review gave a figure of 12 048 821 pupils in all public schools with a further 352 396 in independent (private) schools. The overall budget allocation for 2015/16 for the Department of Basic Education is R21.511-billion. Last year, the budget allocation was R19.699-billion. This is an increase of R1.821 billion, which is equivalent to 9.24%. A new Conditional Grant, namely the Mathematics, Science and Technology (MST) Grant, intended to promote the teaching and learning of Mathematics, Science and Technology. This Grant, an amalgamation of the Technical Schools Recapitalisation Grant and the Dinaledi Schools Grant, has been allocated a total of R1.1 billion over the 2015/16 to 2017/18 MTEF period. The Department’s 2015/2016 budget allocates infrastructure delivery funding through the Education Infrastructure Grant (EIG) at R29.622 billion for the MTEF period; and the Accelerated Schools Infrastructure Delivery Initiative (ASIDI) funded to the tune of R7.042 billion. Advtech is a JSE-listed company that runs several schools including Abbotts College and Varsity College with an enrolment of some 35 000 students. Curro Holdings is also listed on the JSE and, in the first six months of 2012, grew its national school portfolio from 12 to 22. A funding agreement with Old Mutual Investment Group SA (OMIGSA) and the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) will see Curro roll out 11 low-fee independent schools in the period to 2019. These will be called Meridian Independent Schools. The LEAP Science and Maths School model is far from the JSE company model: these schools have low fees and have to raise funds to survive but they offer excellent teaching, particularly in mathematics, science and English. There are six schools in South Africa and they are enabling children from black townships to do well enough at school to go on to study engineering at university. LEAP also has a teacher-training programme for its own graduates. The Mpumalanga Regional Training Trust (MRTT) provides quality customised training interventions, practical workplace training, placement and after-care via technical and mobile training and The MRTT hospitality and tourism academy. Learners at the training centres have access to three or four classrooms at each centre where they receive theoretical instruction. Classrooms vary in size and from centre to centre, but can accommodate between 20 to 50 learners each. Most of the training is provided on campus, but the MRTT can provide off-site training through its mobile workshops which travel to remote areas and enable members of local communities to access skills development interventions close to their homes. 133 SOUTH AFRICAN BUSINESS 2016