In the past couple of weeks I have been involved in a number of debates/dialogues that have focused on the need to improve investment activity in SA. During these discussions, the issue of a lack of education and skills has been raised frequently. There is little doubt that SA has a skill shortage (especially technical skills), and that the education system needs to improve dramatically. In this regard, recent talks by senior academics within the University system, regarding the deterioration in SA’s education standards, is useful but also troubling.
In the light of the these discussions, we decided to look at international measures of scholastic ability in order to provide a useful gauge of how well South Africa’s education system is performing. Without going into significant detail on each survey or system of measurement (provided by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement), SA is currently ranked last (out of 40 countries surveyed) in terms of Grade 8 reading achievement (literacy and comprehension), as well as last out of 46 countries surveyed in terms of Grade 8 mathematics ability (see charts attached).
These surveys are done around once in every four years, with the next assessment scheduled for 2011. Hopefully SA has made some progress. If not, the response should not be to deride the survey, or point to perceptions of another country’s poor education system that is not being surveyed, but rather to strive to improve this most vital component of all successful economies.
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