For far too many, leaving school leads nowhere

The end of the year is rushing towards us. In just over a week hundreds of thousands of matrics will sit down to begin their final school exams. For some there is a university place already almost sewn up and the prospect of great opportunities that come with tertiary education: not only because a degree vastly improves the chance of ultimately finding well-paid work but also because university gives young people the scope to really broaden their horizons.

For many there is no such hope — just the rush of relief that will come when school will be done with and the torment that came with those many years is finally over. Not only the struggle to learn in underresourced and ill-equipped schools, but the threat of violence and actual violence that so many pupils endure.

The images of Grade 1 pupils crying as they are hauled into school for the first time — common images at the start of each school year — send chills down my spine. No child should be so terrified of a learning environment. Far worse is the steady stream of news reports and online videos showing pupils attacking their peers or teachers assaulting their students.

So it came as no surprise when the Department of Basic Education told parliament this week that more than a million children experienced violence at school. As shocking is that the report did not spark outrage — showing just how desensitised we are to violence.

The department’s report back was based on a 2012 study by the Centre for Justice and Crime Prevention — a report that is done every five years. The report says violence is often not a one-off event, with pupils enduring repeated incidents.

This means pupils need to be hyper-vigilant to protect themselves and avoid those who threaten them. And not only at school but also on the journey to and from school.

Persistent fear makes learning almost impossible — a situation exacerbated by poor school infrastructure, a lack of learning material and teachers who are working in almost impossible conditions in some cases.

And now after their final exam, pupils will walk out of the school gates and head home, where many are likely to remain for years.

Because for school-leavers — both those who secure a matric certificate and those who don’t — jobs are exceedingly scarce. And this is especially so if you live in a community in which unemployment is high. To get a job still takes — in many cases — someone who knows someone who knows about a job going. A mother’s friend, a cousin’s neighbour. But if you live in, for example, a rural community in the Eastern Cape where the expanded unemployment rate is 50% the chances of getting that kind of referral are slim.

It is critical for young people to secure their first job as soon as possible after leaving school or university, almost regardless of what that job is. But doing this is out of reach for far too many.

The longer a person is unemployed the less likely they are to get a job. This is because big gaps on a CV do not instil confidence in prospective employers. But more importantly is that one job can lead to another better-paid job as you gain experience. But if you don’t get onto that jobs ladder you may forever be grounded.