The Siyaphambili Post-school Research Group a project within SALDRU, hosted a series of three webinars in October 2020.
These webinars shared findings from post-school research in South Africa and reflect on what these findings mean for the measurement of post-schooling in South Africa and the sharing of data and research on post-schooling.
The work presented in this webinar series was made possible by funding received from the Kresge Foundation. Siyaphambili shares their mission to improve student access and success in post-school institutions.
Information on the webinars in this series is as follows:
The Siyaphambili Website – An interactive platform to track South Africa’s post-school qualification attainment
This online discussion between Dr Nicola Branson (principal investigator of the Siyaphambili Post-school Research Group) and Dr Courtney Brown about the Siyaphambili website was was held on 14 October 2020.
The Siyaphambili team recently launched this interactive website to track the proportion of South Africans, aged 15 to 64, with a post-school qualification; against a target of 22% by 2030.
The presenters discussed how the website started, drawing inspiration from the United States’ Stronger Nation interactive website, and the idea of tracking a single indicator at the population-level. They elaborated on who is using the Stronger Nation platform, aligning the Siyaphambili goal to the National Development Plan (NDP), and how the Siyaphambili platform can be utilized moving forward to co-ordinate future research output.
Presentations:
- Dr Courtney Brown – A Stronger Nation: Measuring Toward the 2025 Goal
- Dr Nicola Branson – The Siyaphambili Website: An interactive platform to track South Africa’s post-school qualification attainment
Recording:
- Zoom webinar recording (recording begins a few minutes into the introduction).
Related resources:
- Brief – The Siyaphambili Website: An interactive platform to track South Africa’s post-school qualification attainment
- Report – Developing Siyaphambili: A Stronger South African Nation Website. Moving towards a unified goal to combat inequality and unemployment
Student access and success: Findings from the National Income Dynamics Study
The webinar held on 21 October 2020, began with an overview of the NIDS data and considerations for its use for PSET data. Then using socioeconomic data at the point when students are making decisions about post-school education, the speakers considered the effects of home background, school quality and scholastic ability during a learner’s final years of schooling on enrolment in post-secondary education.
From there, labour market outcomes of graduates by institution and qualification type were interrogated. Extending the discussion on labour market outcomes, the effect of English proficiency on wages and employment probabilities amongst a nationally representative sample of working-aged males in the country were investigated.
Lastly, in light of recent media discourse on black tax, the speakers looked into private transfer behaviour, and specifically discussed whether graduates of post-secondary education face disproportionate responsibilities to meet family needs through increased ability to offer financial support.
Presentations:
- Kim Ingle – Using NIDS data for PSET research
- Dr Nicola Branson – Access to post-school qualifications: Findings from the National Income Dynamics Study
- Amy Kahn – Returns to English skills in the South African labour market
- Emma Whitelaw – Black Tax: Do graduates face higher remittance responsibilities
Recording:
Related resources:
- Brief – Black tax: Do graduates face higher remittance responsibilities?
- Video – Trends in post-secondary education enrolments in South Africa
- Report – WHAT & WHERE YOU STUDY MATTERS IN THE LABOUR MARKET: Unpacking how employment and wages vary by qualification and institution type
- Working paper – Returns to English skills in the South African labour market
- Working paper – Private transfers and graduate responsibilities: Evidence from the National Income Dynamics Study
- Book Chapter – The post matriculation enrolment decision: Do public TVET colleges provide students with a viable alternative?
- Data – NIDS data on the DataFirst Open Data Portal
Measurement of post-school qualifications attainment in South Africa
This webinar held on 28 October 2020, aimed to bring together stakeholders in the post-schooling sector, both from the research and the data collection side to discuss important issues regarding the measurement of post-school education attainment in South Africa.
Researchers in South Africa rely on household survey data and administrative data to produce research on the post-school sector. Consistency in the definition of variables across these datasets, and over time, is therefore important as it ensures better interrogation of trends over time and easier comparison of research output from end users of the data.
In the first part of the webinar, Nicola Branson shared insights gained on the measurement of post-school qualification attainment in South Africa while developing the Siyaphambili interactive website and from other post-school research projects. Kevin Mc Loughlin (University of the Witwatersrand) then provided an update on the progress of the National Student Success Data Warehouse, a Siyaphumelela initiative funded by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET). In the second part, Jacqueline Mosomi and Samantha Culligan presented results from work that showcases the usefulness of combining data across different sources to address questions of policy relevance in the post-school sector.
Presentations:
- Nicola Branson – Thinking about data for the measurement of post-school education in South Africa
- Kevin Mc Loughlin – National Student Data Warehouse to Support Student Success
- Jacqueline Mosomi – What can occupational tasks data tell us? Unpacking the potential implications of COVID-19 for gender inequality
- Samantha Culligan – Student ability to learn from home: An introductory look at student access to remote learning resources
Recording:
Related resources:
- Poster – Post-school Education and Training in South Africa: Pathways, qualifications, and organisations making up the system
- Brief – Student ability to learn at home: An introductory look at student access to remote learning resources
- Working paper – Unpacking the potential implications of COVID-19 for gender inequality in the SA labour market
- Working paper – An analysis of out of school youth who have not completed matric: what can available data tell us?
- Working paper – Developing Siyaphambili: A Stronger South African Nation Website. Moving towards a unified goal to combat inequality and unemployment
Go back to the Siyaphambili Post-school Research Group project page.