School completion, the matric and postschool transitions in South Africa

Type Report
Title School completion, the matric and postschool transitions in South Africa
Author(s)
Publication (Day/Month/Year) 2024
Publisher Research on Socio-Economic Policy (RESEP)
City Stellenbosch
Country/State South Africa
URL https://resep.sun.ac.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Wills_etal_2024_schoolcompletion_transitions_2501​09.pdf
Abstract
Youth born just after the turn of democracy in 1994 have the highest years of completed education of any cohort in South African history and this may rise further among younger age cohorts. This is a trend worth celebrating. Unfortunately, South Africa’s educational progress is occurring alongside various constraints: slow economic growth (National Treasury 2024, p2); high and rising unemployment especially among youth (Köhler 2023; Mudiriza et al. 2023); public finance constraints in expanding post-school education and training (PSET) opportunities (Kruger 2024); and growing concerns about mismatches between youth’s skills and the skills demanded in a changing world of work (World Bank 2019). The COVID-19 pandemic also resulted in unprecedented disruptions to schooling, and large losses in learning (Van der Berg & Böhmer 2025; Wills & van der Berg 2024; Ardington et al. 2021). However, an unexpected pattern emerged over the pandemic period: South African youth’s average years of completed education continued to rise. For instance, the average 28-year-old in 2023/24 had more years of completed education than the average 28-year-old in 2018/19. These patterns and circumstances present us with various questions. Does rising educational attainment signal a South African youth population with better and more appropriate skills? Why would we continue to see rising levels of average education in South Africa during and in the years just following the COVID-19 pandemic? And thinking more generally about the implications of rising educational attainment for youth and the nation, are the post-school transitions of these more educated youth cohorts likely to be any better than those of similarly educated youth born a decade or two previously? With these questions in mind, this compilation of four research chapters aims to provide an increased understanding of school completion trends in South Africa and relatedly matric performance. This compilation also investigates youth transitions beyond school with a particular focus on recent matriculants.

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