Do not raise false hopes among youth desperate for a proper education

President Jacob Zuma has disappointed so many people so many times that we have come to expect very little from him, but he hit a new low in December when he defied his advisers and promised free tertiary education for the economically disadvantaged. Not even attempting to cloak his intentions in feigned solidarity, Zuma insulted and derogated the poor by using them for his own political expediency. The shock waves from this premature and self-serving announcement are reverberating as institutions and individuals scramble to limit the destruction that will flow from Zuma’s callous act of vandalism.

The National Treasury is scrambling to find the vast amounts of money this proclamation will cost and universities are scrambling to implement a plan that they say should have had at least a year to be adequately rolled out. Instead, they had less than a month.

Academic institutions should be commended for their intensive efforts to address the new National Student Financial Aid Scheme provisions in ways that are most effective and beneficial to students and potential students — but there will still be fallout. A statement issued by Universities South Africa CEO Ahmed Bawa voiced concern about the feared tide of walk-in applicants goaded by the EFF in contravention of the universities’ decision to allow late enrolment only online.

Bawa implored political parties and student leaders “to adopt a responsible approach to this new development in the public higher education sector and to work in concert with the universities in addressing the challenges that may engulf the start of the new academic year”. It is unlikely he will be heeded.

The fires of expectation lit by Zuma and fuelled by the

EFF are already burning too high.

It is not wrong to have expectations, nor is the EFF wrong to state that education is a fundamental human right. Every child who meets the academic requirements to study further should have the opportunity to do so.

But it is irresponsible to create such expectations in an environment not yet equipped to provide tuition for all who deserve it.

It is inevitable that thousands of students will be frustrated in their desire to enter colleges and universities in 2018. Should this disappointment find its outlet in violence, the EFF must take responsibility for the consequences of its adolescent invocation.

We expect more from our politicians. We expect their energies to be directed towards the creation of opportunities for young people, not in the stoking of anger that may harm the very institutions from which so much is being demanded.

Politicising tertiary education does the added damage of limiting young people in their vision of a viable career. It creates the myth that only a university education will suffice, when myriad skills are needed in areas where a degree is not a requirement.

Lowering pass rates and admission requirements gives young people a false sense of hope. Instead of boosting their progress, it does them a disservice, as does encouraging the illusion that without a tertiary education they are worthless.

The prosperity and wellbeing of future generations are not the sole responsibility of government and educational bodies. It is incumbent on parents, teachers, communities and business owners — through internships, apprenticeships and on-the-job training — to open multiple channels for advancement.

In the words of poet laureate Keorapetse Kgositsile, who died on Wednesday after a life devoted to the broadening of minds: “Though the present is a dangerous place to live, possibility remains what moves us . . . Together we can and must rehabilitate our wounded dreams.”

Young people have the right to expect a better world. Let us not disappoint them.

It creates the myth that only a university education will suffice