The Implication of ‘Rurality’ in Terms of Higher Education in a Rural South African Context

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Elsa

Students based in higher education institutions in rural South Africa face compounded barriers affecting access, understanding of application information, and overall well-being. This literature study examines how ‘rurality’ shapes higher education experiences, including defining characteristics of rurality and higher education, a historical rural–urban comparison, and challenges related to social work fieldwork training. It also highlights that disadvantages occur not only through marginalization in rural settings, but in less affluent urban areas as well.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages22

Reading Time55 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Defining rurality and contrasting rural vs urban contexts

Challenges for rural students in accessing higher education

Approaches to defining rurality

The Implication of ‘Rurality’ in Terms of Higher Education in a Rural South African Context By John Victor Rautenbach ∗, Ntobeko Shozi ± & Angelo Nicolaides ° Students based in higher education institutions in rural settings are faced with various challenges. This literature study offers insights into the implication of‘rurality’ in terms of Higher Education in a rural context, considering student well-being and social work training challenges. It stresses that the University of Zululand has put in place a number of initiatives to support teaching and learning considering the above. The authors present the defining characteristics of rurality and higher education, make a historical rural-urban comparison, and discuss social work fieldwork training challenges and wellbeing. Recognizing the challenges posed, some solutions are posited to mitigate them. The article also stresses the need to be cognisant ofthe fact that there is not only a problem of marginalization and privilege in rural settings, but also in urban settings where in less affluent areas, the facilities are inferior and numerous other disadvantages manifest. Thus, any desired upward mobility for students from impoverished areas is challenging to say the least. The work is not based on any intellectual framework or theoretical stance but is placed in the socio-economic structure of our South African society and what ‘rurality’ implies. Keywords: rurality, higher education, South Africa, social work, disability Introduction When one contemplates the notion of rurality, an image of the countryside comes to mind. One immediately thinks of indigenous cultures with all their accoutrements, including the philosophical notion of Ubuntu, and a wide array of African languages. For the most part, urban and rural areas are viewed as possessing particular distinct cultures and apprehensions that affect their priorities and needs, but this is entirely untrue and in any event, the “…realities faced by people in rural areas cannot always be addressed by policy made elsewhere and for everyone”(Hlalele, 2014) . For the sake of clarity, rural areas in South Africa are, by definition, areas that are deprived of access to ordinary public services including inter alia water and sanitation and they are generally without a formal local authority. Communities tend to be sparsely populated with less density of population. The population is for the main part also homogenous when it comes to aspects such as culture, customs, language etc. The primary occupation is based on agriculture although some people may commute to towns or cities in relatively ∗Professor, Department of Social Work, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zululand, South Africa. ±Researcher, Department of Philosophy and Applied Ethics, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zululand, South Africa. ° Professor, Department of Philosophy and Applied Ethics, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zululand, South Africa. close proximity. In 2021, more than 67.85 percent of South Africa's total population lived in urban areas and cities, thus a sizeable percentage reside in rural communities. 1 From the point of view of rural students there are however a myriad of challenges and hurdles to overcome. In South Africa, rural students have been disadvantaged for some time. At the outset there is a deficiency of information, vexing socio-economic barriers, remote geographic locations and endemic poverty. These all serve to make it very difficult for poor rural learners to access higher education.“Majority of these learners come from poor families who cannot afford to pay for costs associated with applying for higher learning such as application fees, National Benchmark Tests (NBT) fees, not to mention the cost of data. Paying for data necessary to send an online application cannot be prioritised over having food for many poor families, and that does not mean

FAQs

What challenges do rural students face when applying for and attending higher education?

Rural students encounter information deficits, socio-economic barriers, remote locations, endemic poverty, language barriers, and difficulties understanding application instructions and forms.

How does the article describe rural areas in South Africa?

Rural areas are characterized by limited access to public services such as water and sanitation, lack of formal local authority, sparse and often homogeneous populations, and an agriculture-based primary occupation.

What are the main approaches to defining ‘rurality’ discussed in the text?

The text notes scholars disagree on ‘rurality,’ presenting at least three approaches, with a dominant functional approach that frames rurality as non-urban and defined by the absence of urban characteristics.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Elsa