By Hellen Agumba

As universities in South Africa prepare to admit a new group of students, thousands of young people from rural parts of the country hope for a life-changing opportunity.

In 2023, public universities enrolled 258,778 first-time students. Demand is intense; for example, the University of Johannesburg received 358,992 applications for just 10,500 first-year spaces in 2025.

A substantial proportion of these new students come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) is often the only key to unlocking post-school education. The scheme supports students from families earning less than R350,000 a year and has a target of 850,000 students. It is supposed to cover fees, accommodation, a living allowance, transport and learning materials.

Yet for many rural students, this key fails to turn the lock.

The number of students from rural areas who secure university placements cannot be determined. Neither the Council on Higher Education nor the Department of Higher Education systematically tracks students’ geographic origins. But what research does show is that students from rural areas face challenges beyond financial constraints.

My research on higher education access and learning experiences, particularly among marginalised students, has explored the reasons and consequences.

The conversation around financial aid rightly focuses on administrative crises: devastating payment delays and operational failures that erode trust. These are human catastrophes. But I’ve found that for rural students, these problems are only the tip of the iceberg. Beneath lies a deeper web of challenges.

Financial aid is crucial but it cannot compensate for systemic disadvantages that begin long before students reach campus and persist throughout their studies.

My research, involving in-depth interviews with rural students, shows the “hidden costs” they bear. Their struggle begins with limited access to information. This constrains their educational choices. Then they may not feel really comfortable to participate in the classroom and make social connections. And their financial situation influences both academic performance and social belonging.

Even when rural students graduate, many describe feeling they have survived higher education rather than thrived in it.

The experiences they shared with me reveal how these challenges interconnect throughout their university journey. Their stories also point to ways of improving rural students’ participation in higher education.

Listening to rural students

My qualitative study consisted of in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with 18 rural students (10 of them female), aged 19-25 at a university in Johannesburg.

All participants came from former homeland areas across four provinces – the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and Mpumalanga – a pattern reflecting apartheid’s enduring geographic legacy. They were studying fields ranging from education to engineering; 13 of the 18 were first-generation university students, and all were Black African. Their demographic profile was typical of deeply rural students accessing higher education through programmes like NSFAS.

The deliberate selection criteria and consistency of their experiences reveals systemic patterns.

One of the participants, Philip (all names have been changed) from Limpopo, described the sheer physical distance of his home from university: “I pass Polokwane (a city 320km from Johannesburg) and go deep to the rural villages until Giyani (a small town over 150km further on) … then from Giyani I have to catch a taxi to my village … you are far away from universities.”

While urban students attend open days to learn about the courses on offer and careers, those in remote villages are left in the dark. As one participant, Terry, observed: “During open day for UJ (University of Johannesburg) … it’s mostly model C schools.“ (These are better resourced high schools which were reserved for white learners during apartheid.) I have never seen someone (there) from a rural background.”

This isolation limits career awareness to visible rural professions like teaching and nursing.

Sef’s story is telling: “I didn’t know anything about the courses offered … I only know teaching and these professions that you see in the village.”

After a costly false start, she found her path to engineering only through a chance family conversation.

In South Africa, many students scrape together a registration fee, gambling that full funding will materialise. And without guidance on accommodation deadlines, they might arrive in the city to find university residences full and be forced into expensive or unsafe private housing.

Jane explained: “We will come and look for accommodation in February … When we get there, we find that the residence is already full.”

While universities technically provide accommodation information, it is often buried in lengthy online registration documents that assume students have reliable internet access and familiarity with university processes.

The result is a financial strain from day one. For students like Kate, who was mugged commuting from distant, off-campus housing, the consequences are academic and psychological: “At the end of the year, I didn’t pass that well and as a result I lost my sponsor.”

Upon arrival, they face a second battle: cultural and geographic alienation. They enter a space privileging urban, middle-class norms. Participants spoke of being teased for their accents and dress.

As Ann from the Eastern Cape put it: “Nobody cares … you get to know people from other tribes, people from other races … some of things they do you don’t understand.”

Language becomes a profound barrier to participation. Philip shared: “I would want to participate … but eish! English … I’m not confident enough.”

The curriculum itself can feel alienating, with examples drawn from unfamiliar urban contexts. Terry, an engineering student, noted: “Sometimes they teach about some events you have never heard of … that’s where they kill us.”

It takes more than cash

This brings us back to NSFAS. Its administrative failures hit rural students hardest.

For a student who barely registered, a delayed allowance is a crisis. It means missing lectures, relying on food parcels, and impossible choices between education and supporting families.

Ann described the strain: “The funding, when it comes, doesn’t cover the true cost. It ignores higher travel costs, expensive data to compensate for remoteness, and the burden of unexpected private accommodation.”

The higher education system has focused too long on the narrow goal of access: getting students through the gate. True equity is about ensuring they can thrive as peers inside. The current student financing model is a blunt remedy: it provides cash but leaves the underlying structures of exclusion untouched.

How to change it

My research suggests some steps that could help rural students.

Fix the fundamentals with rural students in mind: Students need a competent, reliable financial aid scheme. Payment timelines must be guaranteed, with emergency support for rural students during delays.

Early outreach: Universities and government must take information to deep rural areas through mobile career services and application support long before final high school exams that determine university entrance.

Fund the full experience: Bursary calculations must be nuanced to cover the real, higher costs borne by rural students, including travel, data and safe accommodation.

Create culturally inclusive campuses: Universities must actively combat assumptions that rural students are “underprepared” or “lacking” essential skills. They can do this through staff training, peer mentorship, and curricula that value different kinds of knowledge.

The dreams of rural students are stifled by a system blind to their reality. Ensuring timely funding is the bare minimum. They need a system that doesn’t just let them in but truly welcomes them and sets them up for success.

Hellen Agumba is Senior lecturer, University of Johannesburg.

This article was first published by The Conversation.

INSIDE EDUCATION

By Akani Nkuna

Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi has called for a review of the current scholar transport system, citing loopholes and minimal government control as dangerous, and urging stronger, centralised state intervention.

Lesufi was speaking to the media in Sedibeng following a tragic scholar transport accident in Vanderbijlpark on Monday, 19 January, which claimed the lives of 12 learners.

“There must be a mechanism not only to identify them, but to find a way of ensuring that we can account for their behaviour and control,” Lesufi said.

“You can see from this incident that society is asking government and the public sector why scholar transport has been left as a private arrangement. It is quite clear that this private arrangement does not work.”

Lesufi confirmed that the taxi driver involved in the crash, who was operating without a valid permit after his Professional Driving Permit (PDP) expired in November 2025, has been arrested and is expected to appear in court soon.

Meanwhile, the truck driver involved in the collision and his assistant have both been discharged from hospital and are expected to provide detailed statements to police. Lesufi added that only two learners remain in ICU.

Between 12 and 18 January, the provincial government conducted an intensive evaluation of scholar transport across Gauteng.

During this period, 353 handwritten notices were issued to non-compliant scholar transport vehicles in Tshwane, amounting to fines totalling R511,000.

In Johannesburg, authorities issued 432 notices to operators who failed to comply with regulations for transporting learners, with fines amounting to R696,000.

Lesufi said these proactive measures were undertaken ahead of the start of the academic calendar to ensure learner safety, resulting in notices, arrests and the discontinuation of unsafe vehicles across the province.

“We have discontinued 14 buses in Tshwane, 68 in Johannesburg and 11 in Ekurhuleni. In total, 93 buses were stopped from transporting our children using our proactive method of inspecting vehicles before the school calendar resumed,” Lesufi said.

Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube echoed Lesufi’s call for reform, saying scholar transport vehicles should be clearly identifiable through stickers, branding and reporting numbers to curb reckless driving.

“It is also about how best we can incorporate those who are providing private transport services into the framework, but in a way that they can be registered and identified,” Gwarube said.

She added that government currently procures service providers on behalf of schools to oversee compliance, roadworthiness and prevent overcrowding.

“In the current fiscal reality, it is not possible to immediately say that government will own buses for all schools,” Gwarube said.

INSIDE EDUCATION

By Charmaine Ndlela

The death toll from a scholar transport crash near Vanderbijlpark has risen to 14 after a learner died in hospital on Monday evening.

The crash took place early Monday morning, when a private minibus taxi collided with a truck.

Preliminary investigations indicate that the minibus taxi was transporting learners to five different schools, including both primary and high schools.

At the time of the crash, the Toyota Quantum was overloaded, carrying 17 learners instead of the certified 14 occupants, according to police.

This was not the first time the driver had driven recklessly. Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane confirmed that the driver had previously been reprimanded for reckless driving.

Eleven schoolchildren died at the scene, three other learners later succumbed to their injuries in hospital.

According to an eyewitness who was overtaken by the scholar transport taxi, the driver overtook his vehicle and four other cars before colliding with the truck.

The minibus taxi driver is currently in hospital receiving medical treatment. Police have opened a case of culpable homicide.

INSIDE EDUCATION

By Thapelo Molefe

South Africa’s failure to get children reading and counting in the early years amounts to a “national emergency” that threatens the country’s future, Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube warned as the 2026 Basic Education Sector Lekgotla started on Tuesday in Gauteng.

The three-day gathering has brought together national and provincial education authorities, teacher unions, education bodies and development partners to reflect on system performance and set priorities for the year ahead. 

ALSO READ: Hybrid learning urged as public universities hit limits on first-year intake

Gwarube used her opening address to shift the spotlight away from end-of-school results and to what she said was the weakest point in the education system — early learning.

She said persistent literacy and numeracy failures in the foundation phase continue to shape poor learning outcomes, learner dropout, and limited access to science, mathematics and technical subjects later in the system.

“This is not merely an education challenge. It is a national emergency that demands urgent and decisive action,” Gwarube said.

At the start of her address, the minister also paid tribute to the 14 learners who died in a road accident in Gauteng on Monday, describing the loss of young lives so early in the school year as “incredibly heart-breaking” and saying it had “shaken me to the core”.

ALSO READ: Eleven school children killed in Vanderbijlpark crash

She that improved matric results, including the strong performance of the class of 2025, should not mask deep structural problems at the start of the schooling journey. 

“You don’t create a matric pass rate in matric,” she said, adding that learning outcomes are determined “far beyond when children get to matric”.

Gwarube called for a shift that fully embeds early learning from birth to age nine within the basic education system, with particular emphasis on Grade R to Grade 3 as the foundation for reading, numeracy and critical thinking.

“If we fail our children during this critical period, we fail them throughout the education journey,” she told delegates.

She also outlined plans to strengthen inclusive education, expand mother tongue-based bilingual learning, review teacher post-provisioning norms and improve school safety and learner wellbeing.

ALSO READ: Vanderbijlpark scholar crash death toll rises to 14, driver previously reprimanded for reckless driving

“Quality early learning is not optional. It is the cornerstone of lifelong achievement,” the minister said.

The Lekgotla is expected to conclude on Thursday, with discussions aimed at translating policy commitments into practical interventions to strengthen foundational learning and stabilise the education system.

INSIDE EDUCATION

By Charmaine Ndlela

Build One South Africa (BOSA) on Tuesday urged the government to launch a nationwide inquiry into the country’s scholar transport system after the deaths of 14 learners in a crash near Vanderbijlpark on Monday.  

“The tragic and wholly preventable deaths of 14 young learners this week, who lost their lives while being transported to school in a scholar transport vehicle, have exposed the urgent need for stricter safety enforcement and proper oversight in the scholar transport system,” BOSA spokesperson Roger Solomons said in a statement.

ALSO READ: Vanderbijlpark scholar crash death toll rises to 14, driver previously reprimanded for reckless driving

The crash happened early on Monday morning when a privately operated scholar transport vehicle collided with a truck in the Vanderbijlpark area of Johannesburg. At least 11 children were declared dead at the scene, with reports indicating others died of their injuries later.  

Investigators are examining possible road-safety and compliance issues, including whether the vehicle was overloaded. The driver of the crash, according to Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane, had previously been reprimanded for reckless driving.

Solomons said BOSA wanted Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube “to at once launch a nationwide inquiry into the entire scholar transport system, covering both publicly subsidised and privately arranged scholar transport”.

ALSO READ: Hybrid learning urged as public universities hit limits on first-year intake

“The inquiry must interrogate, at minimum: The screening, training, and vetting of scholar transport drivers; the roadworthiness and maintenance of vehicles; the enforcement of consequences for reckless and negligent driving; the widespread and dangerous practice of overcrowding [and] oversight and accountability mechanisms across provinces,” he said.

Gwarube told Parliament last year that 667 000 learners make use of government-subsidised scholar transport, while a further 2.8 million learners rely on private scholar transport arranged by parents. Solomons said that at the time, Gwarube said the government wanted to move more learners to scholar transport.

“If that is indeed the goal, then government has a clear responsibility to first fix the system. Expanding a broken and unsafe system without urgent reform would be irresponsible,” he said.

ALSO READ: Eleven school children killed in Vanderbijlpark crash

He said that if the minister did not act, BOSA would pursue other accountability measures, including “a full review of the National Learner Transport Policy of 2015” and “a Parliamentary Inquiry led by the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education, in terms of section 55 of the Constitution”.  

Solomons also pointed to a South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) investigation into the North West province’s scholar transport programme, saying the commission found systemic failures that “amounted to serious violations of human rights, particularly affecting poor and rural children,” including situations in which learners were exposed to unsafe conditions that undermined access to education.

INSIDE EDUCATION

By Lebone Rodah Mosima 

The European Union on Monday committed about R95.7 million toward a national programme to help prevent and respond to bullying and gender-based violence in South African schools, during the Basic Education Department’s Back-to-School Campaign at Eldorado Secondary School, Johannesburg.

EU Ambassador to South Africa, Dr Sandra Kramer, said the funding reflected the bloc’s commitment to learner safety and wellbeing and formed part of its long-standing cooperation with the country.

“We partner with the Republic of South Africa in the field of education because education matters,” she said. 

During her keynote address, Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube thanked the EU for its donation and said that intimidation, violence, and abuse undermined learning outcomes and the dignity of learners. She called for consistent prevention and response measures in schools.

“We welcome this contribution and we commit to ensuring that it delivers real impact in the lives of our learners and in the lives of others around the country”, Gwarube said. 

She said international partnerships have sent a strong message that learner safety is a global priority and that “South Africa is not alone in this fight”. 

A public commitment would be signed with learners, education leaders, and partners to reinforce accountability and action in creating safer schools, she said.  

“As a government, we are clear. Schools must be places of care, discipline, and respect. Learners must feel protected by adults and that they are entrusted with their education”. 

Gwarube acknowledged that schools cannot address these challenges alone and called for collective action involving parents, communities, law enforcement, and social partners.

She encouraged learners who experience bullying to speak out, warned perpetrators that such behaviour would not be tolerated, and criticised the silence of bystanders, who enable abusers and fail to protect victims. 

“Being brave sometimes means standing up for somebody else, and gender-based violence is one of the greatest threats to the safety and well-being of our learners, particularly girls”, she said. 

The funding will strengthen prevention, education, psychosocial support, referral pathways, and school-based interventions to protect school learners. 

“The European Union stands with you in solidarity. Every child, regardless of geography, can learn in peace and dignity,” Kramer said.

INSIDE EDUCATION

By Cyril Ramaphosa

Last week, the Minister of Basic Education announced that the Matric Class of 2025 had made history by achieving the highest pass rate in our country’s history. More than 650,000 learners passed the National Senior Certificate, achieving a pass rate of 88%.

We congratulate all the learners and their teachers, families and communities for this great achievement. We applaud every learner who sat these exams. 

The matric results have shown a steady improvement over many years, both in the quantity and the quality of the achievements. They have contributed to a dramatic increase in the number of South Africans older than 20 who have a matric qualification, increasing from 30% in 2002 to 52% in 2024.

This outstanding achievement shows the value of the investment we are making in education and the efforts we have made to ensure that all children, regardless of their background and gender, have access to quality education.

Global experience has shown that one of the most effective ways to reduce poverty is to ensure that girl children receive a good education.

It is therefore significant that in 2025 more girls sat for the matric exams than boys, and that the pass rates of boys and girls were much the same.

A higher proportion of girls attained admission to Bachelor studies than boys, and nearly twice as many obtained distinctions. This bodes well for the continuation of their studies at universities and colleges.

It is also significant that more than two-thirds of all bachelor passes came from schools in the most disadvantaged communities, classified as quintiles 1-3.

This is both a testament to the determination of these learners and their teachers, and to the effectiveness of policies like no-fee schools and the child support grant.

Taken together with the expansion in recent years of funding for tertiary students from poor backgrounds, these results give us encouragement that many of these young people will be able to lift themselves and their families out of poverty.

We are encouraged by the fact that 90% of learners with special education needs passed matric and 52% achieved bachelor passes, both higher than the national average. Our task is now to ensure that more learners with special needs are able to write matric exams.

As we applaud these great results, we must acknowledge that challenges remain.

Of the 1.2 million children who started grade one in 2014, only 778,000 made it through to grade 12 in 2025. That’s nearly half a million young people who left school before finishing. As we strive to improve the quality of our matric results, we must work harder to ensure that more children complete their schooling.

Another challenge is the drop in performance in subjects like mathematics. While more learners are taking these subjects, we have seen a drop in the pass rates for mathematics and accounting. These are subjects that our learners need to excel at if they are to succeed in a rapidly changing economy.

In working to address these challenges, we are starting with the foundations of learning. In the same week that the results came out for the class of 2025, the class of 2037 started their first day of grade one.

From this moment, they are starting their preparations for matric and beyond.

That is why are placing greater emphasis and making more investment into the early years of schooling. We have made Grade R compulsory and embarked on an ambitious drive to register and provide subsidies to more early childhood development centres.

We are strengthening early grade reading, improving teaching materials and focusing on teacher development in the early grades.

By investing in children at the start of their school career, by giving them a solid educational foundation, we are preparing them for success.

We are working to ensure that they all finish their schooling, that they excel in matric and that they go on to thrive in everything they do.

The achievements of the Class of 2025 must inspire and encourage all the years of learners that are to follow.

Cyril Ramaphosa is President of South Africa.

INSIDE EDUCATION

Sports Reporter

Deputy Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Peace Mabe has congratulated the Royal Cape Yacht Club (RCYC) Sailing Academy after its youth-crewed yacht, Alexforbes Angel Wings, won first place on handicap in the 2025 Cape2Rio Yacht Race.

The team – from Masiphumelele, Khayelitsha, Grassy Park, and Athlone — completed the 3300 nautical miles of transatlantic crossing in 19 days, overcoming technical challenges in the Atlantic Ocean to secure a result that drew national attention and boosted South Africa’s profile in elite offshore sailing.

“This victory is about far more than winning a race,” said Mabe on Sunday.

“It is about young sailors who were given the platform to apply their training in a real-world environment, make critical decisions in difficult conditions, and support one another when things did not go according to plan. The RCYC Sailing Academy, through this team, has shown the world what South African youth can achieve when talent is matched with structure, discipline and belief.”

The deputy minister said the Cape2Rio Yacht Race remained one of South Africa’s most prestigious offshore sporting events, requiring stamina, technical skill, psychological resilience and the ability to navigate unpredictable sea and weather systems over thousands of nautical miles.

Official race communications showed the crew held a strong advantage for much of the race and remained competitive after a boom failure during a gybe in the early hours of Saturday, January 10, while leading by about 25 hours. After an assessment, the team continued racing by re-hoisting the mainsail without a boom.

 “What stands out about this achievement is not only the result, but the manner in which it was achieved,” said the deputy minister.

“It speaks to the maturity of a young crew that stayed focused, calm and strategic under pressure. This is a victory that belongs to the team, their coaches, their families, the RCYC Sailing Academy, and every South African who believes in the power of sport to transform lives.”

Quoting from the Constitution, Mabe said South Africa was founded on values that include “human dignity, the achievement of equality and the advancement of human rights and freedoms.”

“These are not abstract words in a document,” she said. “They are a national promise. And we honour that promise when young South Africans — regardless of background — are given fair access to opportunity, the support to grow, and the chance to excel, including in sporting spaces that shape their futures.”

“This is a victory for all South Africans and it deserves to be recognised as one of the year’s significant international sporting achievements,” she said.

“It is especially meaningful that this result comes from a youth crew that demonstrated courage, composure and collective responsibility in one of the world’s most unforgiving sporting environments.”

“The RCYC Sailing Academy has delivered a result that will inspire the next generation. Alexforbes Angel Wings are champions, and their story will encourage young South Africans to dream bigger, train harder, and believe that they belong on the world stage.”

INSIDE EDUCATION

By Charmaine Ndlela

The death toll from a scholar transport crash near Vanderbijlpark has risen to 13, the Gauteng Department of Education said on Monday afternoon.

“All information remains preliminary as investigations continue,” the department added.

Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane said he was “deeply devastated” by the crash, which occurred at around 7am when a private scholar transport vehicle collided with a side tipper truck on Fred Droste Road.

“It really is a tragic day for us as the Department and the province. We extend our deepest condolences to the learners, families, and school communities affected. We call for greater vigilance when it comes to scholar transports, particularly private scholar transport,” said Chiloane.

Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube said she had learned “with deep sadness” of the crash.

“The Department of Basic Education stands ready to provide psychosocial support to affected learners, educators, and families, in collaboration with the Gauteng Department of Education,” Gwarube said.

President Cyril Ramaphosa issued a statement in which he addressed the crash and the weekend violence on the Cape Flats.

He said he was saddened by the loss of life of children in both incidents and offered his “deepest sympathies to all families and communities concerned”.

“Our children are the nation’s most precious assets and we must do all we can – from observing the rules of the road to the quality of service providers appointed to transport scholars – to protect learners.”

The president said national and provincial authorities would provide families and schools with psychosocial support.

INSIDE EDUCATION