Ample resources are invested in South Africa’s education sector, which ranks among the best on the continent. The state spends approximately one-fifth of its budget annually on education and training – R254bn ($24.1bn) was allocated in 2014 – and it has nearly managed to achieve the goal of universal primary school enrolment that has remained so elusive elsewhere in sub-...
Articles & Analysis | Correcting historical inequalities is proving a hard task from The Report: South Africa 2014
Articles & Analysis | Plans to widen access to higher education have been announced from The Report: South Africa 2014
In January 2014 South Africa’s Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) published a “White Paper for Post-School Education and Training”, detailing its strategy to improve the quality of the country’s 50 technical and vocational education and training colleges (TVETs) and build a network of community colleges geared to those who either never attended or did not...
Chapter | Health & Education from The Report: South Africa 2014
Access to free medical treatment is a constitutional right in South Africa, but though the government has devoted at least 12% of its budget to health care annually since 2010, the Department of Health (DoH) itself has characterised the system as “inequitable, with the privileged few having disproportionate access to health services”. Expenditure is split fairly evenly between the public and...
In April 2014 South Africans celebrated the 20th anniversary of both the end of apartheid and the creation of the modern Republic of South Africa. These two events highlight just how far South Africa has come in the past two decades, during which the nation’s numerous assets have contributed to its rise as one of Africa’s leading economic and diplomatic players.
Chapter | Health & Education from The Report: Egypt 2014
The largest country in the Arab world, Egypt has well-established medical facilities. However, the health sector faces significant challenges in caring for a rapidly growing population using a system hampered by structural weaknesses. In its 2014 constitution, the Egyptian government pledged to devote 3% of GDP to health care. With pressing matters of security and political stability facing...
For millennia Egypt has been one of the most strategically important places on earth, and often one of its most culturally influential. Despite significant structural issues and the political instability of the past few years, it remains a country of great regional and global importance.