Grahamstown graduates
The Vice-Chancellor of Rhodes University Dr Sizwe Mabizela has opened the doors of the university to the local community.
There are now more local young people registered at Rhodes than at any time before in its history. Based on university administrative records, there are currently as many as 700 local Rhodents; that’s almost 10% of the student population. A growing proportion of these students are drawn from under-resourced schools. By far the largest feeder school of Rhodes University is the Gadra Matric School (GMS).
There are various ways that the university is proactively creating new access points for local students into Rhodes. On the direct urging of the ViceChancellor himself, this year Rhodes and Gadra are piloting a new ‘ bridging programme’ in terms of which 10 local students are simultaneously registered for Psychology 1 at Rhodes as ‘Occasional Students’ and they are upgrading two matric subjects at GMS. Seven of these students are from Grahamstown and one is from each of Alicedale, Port Alfred and Bathurst. All of these students attended nofee public high schools. Rhodes waived the fees of all 10, despite its own challenging financial situation. Essentially what is being attempted is to create an alternative cheaper ‘extended studies’ programme for local students. (The existing extended studies offerings of the university are wonderfully successful programmes, but space in them is limited.)
Educationists make a distinction between physical access and epistemological access to education. Enabling disadvantaged local students to gain physical access to Rhodes is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for them to gain epistemological access, in other words for them to develop and flourish intellectually at Rhodes. In a sense, the achievement of the latter is measured most crudely by the ability of students to graduate within a reasonable amount of time.
Make no mistake, anywhere in the world graduation from a credible university is a significant achievement. But in South Africa it is an especially important milestone because of the direct relationship here between the extent of one’s educational qualifications and one’s employability.
The statistics are clear: if one leaves school without a National Senior Certificate it is likely that one will be condemned by the market into permanent unemployment, whereas if one graduates with a bachelor degree from a good university one will be readily absorbed by the market into meaningful employment.
At last count, 93% of people who graduate from Rhodes secure gainful employment within six months of qualifying. From a statistical vantage point, university graduate unemployment is South Africa is a myth, or at least a vastly exaggerated claim. (It is acknowledged that it is more of a factor in relation to lesser universities than Rhodes.)
In the light of this explication, the community of Grahamstown should stand together in congratulating Rhodes University both on the value of its degree qualifications and its high level of throughput (graduation rates). Rhodes University has higher graduation rates than any other South African university. In other words, it is more successful at enabling its students to realise epistemological access than any other of the nation’s universities.
Over the various Rhodes graduation ceremonies next week, almost 2 500 students will receive degrees and diplomas. That figure represents almost a third of the entire student body of 2016 – a remarkable achievement. Even more amazingly, more than 1 100 students will be awarded a postgraduate qualification; this enhances Rhodes’s reputation as a leading postgraduate university.
No doubt, there are many local students who will be in the limelight at the Monument; Gadra Education would like to congratulate each and every one of them.
In particular, the organisation takes its hat off to local students who have had to overcome a variety of challenges – financial, language and so on – to reach the heights that they have attained. Specifically, I applaud the following 10 sons and daughters of Grahamstown: Simamkele Gayika, Sibusiso Klaas, Zizipho Magula, Siyanda Mati, Aviwe Menze, Gcobisa Mjele, Thandiswa Nqowana, Sanele Ntshingana, Nonkosinathi Qwibi and Sinazo Sobekwa.
Many of them have not only flourished academically at Rhodes but also contributed in a variety of ways to supporting the educational journeys of disadvantaged school learners. Both Ms Magula and Ms Nqowana, for example, are past winners of ‘Top 10’ community engagement Awards; that is, they have been among the top 10 of all Rhodes student volunteers.
Grahamstown salutes you and is very proud of all of you!
• Ashley Westaway is the manager of Gadra Education.