The Department of Education aims to develop and maintain the education and training system of South Africa. It is responsible for:

• developing the policy and legislative framework on which the education and training system rests
• Initiating, evaluating, reviewing and researching all aspects of the education and training system
• initiating and managing processes that lead to the development of policy and legislation
• providing support to provinces and higher education institutions
• monitoring and reporting on the implementation of policy, norms and standards, assessing their impact on the quality of the educational process and identifying policy gaps.

The Department's activities are focussed around the following areas:

• General Education
• Higher Education
• Further Education And Training (FET)
• Adult Basic Education (ABET)
• Quality Promotion And Development
• Early Childhood Development (ECDE)
• ICT In Education
• School Nutrition
• Gender
• HIV / Aids
• Masifunde Sonke
• Inclusive Education
• Religion In Education
• School Uniform