Information Technology in South Africa

Human Capital and IT


City Hall, Bloemfontein, Free State Province

Population Statistics1

Population: 42,327,458 (July 1997 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.51% (1997 est.)

Birth rate: 26.89 births/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Death rate: 11.89 deaths/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Net migration rate: 0.09 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population : 56.29 years
male: 54.4 years
female: 58.23 years (1997 est.)

Total fertility rate: 3.22 children born/woman (1997 est.)

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 81.8%
male : 81.9%
female: 81.7% (1995 est.)

Language
There are eleven languages spoken in South Africa, including Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Pedi, Sotho Swati, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Shosa and Zulu. Afrikaans and English are the considered the official languages. Afrikaans, derived from Dutch, is the principal language of the Afrikaners and Coloureds. More Afrikaners are bilingual than English-speakers. Most urban blacks speak English and Afrikaans in addition to their native language. Many blacks speak Fanakalo, a common language that developed among black workers in the mines.

Education

Overview:
South Africa's education system has undergone tumultuous changes over the past few years, as the authorities come to terms with gross inequalities, generations of neglect, and an education backlog created through years of disruption and student unrest during the struggle against apartheid. In the previous system, education was perceived as a government responsibility, but times  have changed. Although Government's priority today is to get everyone to a basic level of literacy, numeracy and life skills, it has recognised that it cannot face the challenge alone. The new government faces an enormous task, with state education at all levels showing evidence of strain and resources being utilized to the limit. It has therefore welcomed the important role private education can play in providing resources for a burgeoning student population.

Education is a vitally important activity in any modern society. In South Africa it is critical to the success of the economy and  perhaps democracy itself. The challenge is to ensure that it can succeed through education and training in stimulating, directing and using the creative and intellectual energies of the entire population. To this end, the Government new White Paper outlines a comprehensive set of initiatives for the transformation of education through new planning, governing and funding arrangements. 2

Curriculum 2005:
Curriculum 2005 is the Government's new revolutionary outcomes-based school curriculum. Essentially, the Department of Education has made a conscious decision to move away from the current approach to education which places the emphasis on the memorization of knowledge selected in terms of a given set of disciplines and subjects. The new curriculum will effect a shift from one which has been content-based to one which is based on outcomes. This aims at equipping all learners with knowledge, competencies, and orientations needed for success after they leave school or have competed their training. Its guiding vision is that of a thinking, competent future citizen. It will also foster learning which encompasses a culture of human rights, multi-lingualism and multi-culturalism and a sensitivity to the values of reconciliation and national-building. The new system will be implemented in 1998 and completed in 2003.

Research Output:
Research output in South Africa is declining because of a lack of funds, incentives and facilities. South Africa must improve research in the fields of science and technology, also finance and infrastructure, to address its weaknesses in human resources and international competitiveness. The country is training fewer than one technician for every engineer, while a normal ratio' should be ten technicians for every engineer. 3

Illiteracy and the Need for Adult Basic Education:
There are currently nearly 7,5 million adults (aged 15 and over) who are illiterate or severely under-educated. Nearly 3 million are totally unschooled and another 4,5 million have so little primary education (of poor quality) that they are barely literate. This is an adult illiteracy rate of 29%, or, more positively, a 71% literacy rate. Although the above calculation is based on the adoption of a Grade 7 level of school education as an indication of functional literacy, some would argue that for many people seven years of schooling have been so inadequate that functional literacy is only really achieved after nine years of schooling - i.e. Grade 9 level (the period of compulsory schooling according to current policy).4

South African Universities:

Information Technology Education:
The South African economy is confronted with the formidable challenge of integrating itself into the competitive arena of international production and finance with new computer and communication technologies which will transform both the way people work and their habits of consumption. As South Africa enters this network, the education system will have to adapt to produce people with the skills and technological innovations necessary for successful economic participation. The Department of Education's National Center for Educational Technology has prepared a strategic plan for integrating technology into the education system. Specific funds have not as yet been allocated, but appears to be near as technological  advancement is a target area under discussion within the Bi-National Commission between theUnited States and South Africa. One local telecommunications company has already begun to invest in technology in education by connecting 1,000 school-based computers to the Internet, at no charge.

CS/CE/MIS Post Secondary Programs and Graduates
With much of computer science, computer education and management of information science education taking place in the private education sector there are no reliable statistics on how many programs there are or how many students they graduate.

Computer Magazines5

Computer Associations and Organizations6

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Author: Felix R. Klimpacher
Last Update:  May 10, 1998
This Page's URL is: http://gurukul.ucc.american.edu/initeb/fklimpa/southafrica/humapage.html