Creating a hub for post-schooling information and research in South Africa

The White Paper for Post School Education and Training (PSET) in South Africa articulates a commitment to building a post-school education and training system that is responsive to the needs of individual citizens, employers in both public and private sectors, as well as broader societal and developmental objectives. Evidence-based policy and planning is therefore critical for determining and responding to these needs.

One of the key dimensions of the Kresge funding, awarded to Principal Investigators, Nicola Branson and Vimal Ranchhod, between October 2017 and October 2020, was to create a hub for research on the post-school sector; a place where institutional and national stakeholders will look for information and request additional analyses.

A key feature of this project was building the Siyaphambili interactive website. Alongside the website, an aim was to make information about post-school education and training in South Africa more widely accessible. For example, view our infographic on pathways, qualifications, and organisations making up the system.

Another component was to provide a systemic study of the landscape of public universities, TVET colleges and relevant PSET government stakeholders in South Africa with respect to the collection, analysis, reporting and dissemination of information. Empirical findings from a baseline survey can be accessed here.

A number of graduate students were funded under this project. Read more about our capacity building efforts here and other research outputs, including many from this project, here.