SA producing more graduates

The number of students graduating from South Africa’s public higher education institutions (HEIs) is increasing, according to the Department of Higher Education and Education.

The department, which produces an in-depth statistical report on the post-school training and education sector, says that close to 200,000 students graduated in 2015, representing an increase of 3,3% on the 2014 results.

The Department of Higher Education and Training, explains that just over 30% of these students walked away with a qualification with a science, engineering and technology major followed by the business and management (28%).

Another 2,500 students achieved their doctorates in 2015, representing a whopping 12% increase on the previous year. The department has set a target of producing 12,000 PhD graduates by 2019.

According to the Department’s 2009 to 2016 milestones publication, the department says that Increases have also been recorded for students qualifying for their master’s which now stands at 22% for 2014, up from 18% in 2010.

In the TVET college sector, the Nated 1(N1) to Nated 6 (N6) qualifications constitute the highest enrolments (69% in 2014) since 2010.

It says that services-related programmes have increased in popularity since 2010.

The TVET colleges have also boosted their curricula with subjects like renewable energy as well as offering higher certificates in partnership with HEIs.

Certification rates for learnerships and artisanal learning range from 50% to 70% with over 53,000 artisans having been produced between 2011 and 2015.

The government target is to produce 30,000 artisans annually by 2020.  The number of artisans produced in 2014/15 was 14,389, representing just less than 50% of the target but exceeding the annual target of 13,000 for that year.