Tertiary students mainly black

2003-10-14 22:01

Pretoria - Black people constituted just over 61% of the student population at public universities and technikons in 2001, according to a report released by the Education Department on Tuesday.

Nearly 44% of the students were white, five percent Indian and 6.6% coloured, says the report, entitled "Education Statistics in South Africa at a Glance in 2001".

Black enrolment figures ranged from 45% of those undertaking contact study at historically white universities to 76% of people studying in the same way at historically black technikons.

Fewer than two percent of those studying at historically black institutions were not black.

According to the report, the average undergraduate success rate for distance education at technikons was 30%. For contact tuition at the same institutions it was 70%.

Contact and distance education at universities had average undergraduate success rates of 74 and 57% respectively.

The average success rate for black students varied from 27% for distance education at technikons to 67% for contact tuition at the same institutions.

Some 54% of students enrolled at public universities and technikons were female.

With regard to staff, the report says 30% of academics at universities and 36% of those at technikons were black in 2001. Just under four out of every 10 academics were female.

Of administrative staff, black people comprised 49% at universities and 57% at technikons. Close on six of every 10 administrative employees at both types of institutions were female.

Just under half of all university and techikon students chose humanities as their major field of study, compared to 27% in science, engineering and technology, and 24% in business, the report says.

- SAPA