More children attending no fee schools: survey

© Lucian Milasan – 123RF.com

Delivering the results of the 2014 General Household Survey (GHS) Statistician General Pali Lehohla said that the percentage of learners who were exempt from paying school fees increased from 0.4% in 2002 to 65.4% in 2014 with Limpopo at 92% and the Eastern Cape at 81.5% having the highest proportions of learners exempt from paying school fees.

Learners that were least likely to benefit from the no fee system were in Gauteng and the Western Cape.

Nationally, 33.4% of individuals aged five years and older attended an educational institution with approximately 87% of South African individuals above the age of five years who attended an educational institution, were in either primary or high school, while 4.9% attended tertiary institutions.

The lack of money for fees remained as the primary reason a large proportion of people in this age group were not studying.

When coming to access to water, the percentage of households that have access to piped water was at 90% in 2014, compared to 85% in 2002.

Nationally, 61.4% of households rated the quality of water related services they received as good however satisfaction has been eroding steadily since 2005 when 76.4% of users rated the service as good.

According to the survey which was conducted between January and December 2014, an estimated 46.3% of households had access to piped water in their homes in 2014 while a further 27% accessed water within the yard while 14% relied on communal taps.

Electricity

The GHS revealed that 86% of households in South Africa had access to mains electricity in 2014. Nationally the percentage of households that rated electricity supply as good have decreased to 66.5% nationally from 68% in 2013.

Sanitation

According to the survey, nationally, the percentage of households with access to "RDP standard sanitation" increased from 62.3% in 2002 to 79.5% in 2014. The majority of households in the Western Cape (94.6%) and Gauteng (90.9%) had access to adequate sanitation.

Despite the improved access to RDP standard sanitation facilities, many households continue to be without any proper sanitation facilities.

Main source of income

The survey revealed that more people continued to rely on state coffers as the percentage of individuals that benefitted from social grants increased from 12.7% in 2003 to 30.2% in 2013 before declining slightly to 29% in 2014.

The percentage of households that received at least one grant increased from 29.9% to 45.5% in 2013 before slightly declining to 44.5% in 2014.

Meanwhile, the report also showed that 18.1% of South Africans were covered by a medical aid.

The report also showed that 69.3% of households went to public clinics or hospitals first when household members fell ill or got injured.

The study found that 81.7% of households that attended public healthcare facilities were either very satisfied or satisfied with the service they received compared to 92% of households that attended private healthcare facilities.