Education in South Africa (Eastern Manifest Destiny)

Education in South Africa is provided by public, private, and federal schools. As a federal state, each province in South Africa controls their own public primary and secondary curriculums and educational standards. Public tertiary educational standards are set by each of the provinces own Provincial University Associations in collaboration with the Federal Board of High Education. Vocational and private education facilites have their own Associations that collaborate with the federal government to determine a standard, although most private universities and high schools determine their own standards on a school by school basis. Federal schools follow standards set by the Department of Education and the Federal Board of Educators.

According to a 2016 nationwide survey on all primary and secondary education facilities, conducted by the Department of Education, 91% of a school-aged children (K-12) attended provincially or federally-funded schools, and roughly 9% attend private schools.

Although each province maintains and mandates their own education standards, compulsory formal schooling by public, federal, and federally-approved private schools is required by law to start at age five and end somewhere between age sixteen and eighteen. All schools follow a unique four-level system, comprising of primary school (K-3), lower secondary/middle school (4-6), upper secondary/junior high school (7-9), and senior high school (10-12).

Over 500 public, private, and federal higher education and vocational institutions exist throughout the country, providing a variety of post-secondary education opportunities for the people of South Africa. Generally, higher education is divided into 2 sections, undergraduate and graduate education. Undergraduate systems are further divided into community colleges and universities, where the former is not required as students can and will go into university directly from senior high school.

History
The current education system that dominates all of South Africa came into existence in 1962. Prior to that, the education system in South Africa was highly segregated with Whites and Asians sharing an English-style education system that federaly funded while Coloured attended a school system that was rather inadequate and highly discriminatory. After the mass expulsion of German Americans to South Africa and waves of British Patagonian and Dutch Indonesian immigration eventually led to protests of Apartheid, which led to it being ended in 1961 and a new integrated school system was created and put into effect at several schools in Pretoria and Windhoek (now Windhoek-Rozenkroon) in 1962 and eventually enforced countrywide in 1965. The current system was largely impacted and shaped by school systems in the United States and Japan.

Educational stages
Formal education in South Africa is divided into a four-level system consisting of primary, lower secondary, upper secondary, and senior high schools. Students generally enter the school system between at the age of 5 or 6 and end between 16 and 18, depending on province.