Since 1996, the number of people in South Africa in the 5-24 age group not attending school increased from 5.09m to about 5.4m (26.6%), Census 2022 has revealed.
When President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the nation after the release of Census 2022 on Tuesday, 10 October, he said the point of the census was to equip South Africa with the information necessary to ensure that no one was left behind.
While great strides have been made in improving access to education since democratic South Africa's first census in 1996, with school attendance increasing from 70.1% in 1996 to 73.4% in 2022, not much has changed since 2011, when the census before the current one was held.
The good news is that the number of people between the ages of five and 24 at schools in SA increased from 13.8 million to about 14.5 million.
However, since 1996, the number of people in that age group not attending school increased from 5.09 million to about 5.4 million (26.6%). Between 2011 and 2022, more black, Indian and Asian people attended school, while attendance for coloured and white people dipped.
Alarmed by the statistics, the civil society organisation turned political party Build One South Africa (Bosa) released a statement calling for Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga to be sacked....
