Education remains a priority of the North West which allocated nearly a third of its 1995 budget to educate its people, including the pupil population which is the fifth largest in South Africa.
The Province aims to provide ten years of compulsory education for basic numerally, literacy, and writing skills. The pupil:teacher and pupil:classroom ratios will be reduced to 35 to one.

Better school facilities will include the construction of 197 urban and 543 rural classrooms by the department of Public Works.

Pre-primary, primary, secondary, technical, agricultural, and private schools can be found throughout the Province.

Potchefstroom has 11 secondary schools which accommodate 30% of the pupils in the province while neighboring Klerksdorp has 19 primary schools, 10 secondary schools, six colleges and a satellite Technikon which draws students from as far afields as Zeerust and Vryburg.

Tertiary facilities include two universities, a world class hotel school, several manpower training facilities, a satellite Technikon Campus Campus, and agricultural, nursing, teacher and technical colleges. They offer a range of qualifications from academic degrees to short practical courses to equip students for immediate employment.

The University of Potchefstroom has the best pharmaceutical faculty in the country, while the Bosko Training Centre provides job related skills in the field of agriculture and is recognized as the best of five such institutions in South Africa.

Mmabatho also offers diverse and specialized training opportunities at its University, Institute of Hotel and Tourism Management, Manpower Training Centre, and special training colleges for teachers with experience but limited qualifications.

Visits http://www.uniwest.ac.za (University of the North West) | http://www.puk.ac.za (Potchefstroom University) for more information.