Daily Dispatch
Varsity access remains elusive
Tuesday was the last day for matriculants writing their final end-of-year exams. This marked the completion of their 12-year school journey which would have started in 2005 for most. Next year some will head out to our universities to pursue higher education. But not all of the 105 000 young people who sat for their final exams in the Eastern Cape will be able to get into universities. Access to higher education still remains elusive for most and, despite the best efforts by the government to open access for the poor, there are thousands who still cannot afford the privilege.
Restrictive registration fees which cost thousands of rands have become a stumbling block for poor students – the majority of who already come from no-fee schools. There is also the issue of poor marks. Some of the matriculants would have obtained such poor grades that no university would want to touch them. Such is our education system – it “condones” a learner to a higher grade even when they realise that such a pupil has learning difficulties. Basically they are pushed to the next grade and eventually out of the education system.
Frankly this explains why we have such a low matric pass rate. Some of the schoolleavers will think that the job market is the answer to their problems. But unfortunately our basic education system does not prepare young people for the job market. This is unlike in European countries like Finland, who ensure that pupils are channelled to the right education streams based on their abilities. But jobs are hard to come by, especially in this province.
The recent employment figures shows that the Eastern Cape has the highest unemployment rate, at 35.5%, in the country.
This is still a conservative calculation, as the expanded definition of unemployment (which includes those who have given up looking for work) paints an even bleaker picture – standing at 45.3%. Even for those who will be going to university, it will not be a bed of roses. Basically they will be entering university campuses in turmoil. Two weeks ago, this newspaper reported that our universities were now spending millions on security as a result of violent protests in campuses.
The release of the Heher Commission’s report did not sit well with student leaders. Retired Judge Jonathan Heher was tasked by President Jacob Zuma to investigate the feasibility of free higher education – following the violent #FeesMustFall protests of 2015. In his report, Heher found that free universal access to education was simply uaffordable for the country.
Instead he recommended a number of mechanisms – including scrapping registration fees at universities, free education at TVET colleges and that commercial banks should grant loans to students.
But that report seems unlikely to be implemented, as indications are that Zuma intends to ignore it in favour of a free education plan devised by his daughter’s ex-boyfriend.
Zuma has not denied the existence of such a plan – adding to the overall confusion over the future of our universities. The future does not look too bright but hopefully things will turn out for the better.