STUDENT

WHAT is the aim and purpose of education? Is it to enrich the mind? Or is it to prepare the young and not so young for the world of work, to impart analytical skills and enhance their intellectual capacity for dealing with today’s and tomorrow’s demanding world?

To my mind the above are not mutually exclusive. Employers want to see young people coming to the world aware what they can expect and what is expected of them, ready with ideas, innovative, prepared and equipped with questioning minds and fit to take their place in the world of work.

Society demands on all of us to possess analytical skills, intellectual capacity and technical competencies. As the country faces major protests and sit-ins by university students following Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande’s announcement of an 8 percent cap on fee increases, with some calling for shutdown of tertiary institutions, corporate South Africa must realise that education is, more than ever, an economic issue.

Nearly every business needs highly skilled workers in today’s economy, and with low unemployment rate and a limited supply of workers, that means there’s a fierce competition for them. Companies are forced to offer ever-larger compensation packages to attract the most talented.

Indeed, while tireless teachers and administrators rightly receive most of the accolades for the increasingly positive outlook for education, the big question for our country is: Who should pay for higher education? Is it the state through taxes as it does for elementary to Grade 12 at no fees schools? Or should tertiary students