The recent release of matric results by the national department of basic education has brought to finality the journey of secondary education for hundreds of thousands of learners across SA. More than 800,000 candidates sat for the 2024 matric exams, with 615,429 of them passing.
The class of 2024 obtained a pass rate of 87.3% – the highest in the country’s history. Of significance is that 67% of the bachelor passes achieved came from quintile 1 to 3 schools which are found in working-class neighbourhoods, mainly in rural areas and townships.
This must be commended. Our country’s two-tier education system has meant that learners from schools in historically disadvantaged communities have been hurled at the margins when it comes to competing for places in traditional universities in particular.
While this improvement of passes in quintile 1 to 3 schools will not fundamentally erase this trend, given that these learners are still competing for places with those from upper quintiles as well as private schools who enjoy the privilege of being feeder schools to certain universities and other privileges, the playing field is at least tilting slightly in favour of those it has historically been unfair to.
But while somewhat fairer competition for places in traditional universities is welcome, two issues beg for reflection. The first, which I have raised in the past, is that SA needs to increase the number of its higher learning institutions as a matter of urgency.
There are simply not enough public universities and vocational training institutions in SA, and the African continent in general. Consider that the top 10 most populous countries in Africa have a combined population of more than 665-million people, but are served by only 740 universities. SA, with a population of 60.89-million people, has just 26 public universities, 50 technical, vocational education and training (TVET) colleges, and 149 private colleges registered with the department of higher education & training.
This translates to a population per capita served by a higher learning institution at just over 390,000 people. Contrast this with developed countries such as Germany, where there are 423 universities and colleges serving a population of 83.28-million. The implication is that many learners who complete matric will not be in higher education this year due to a limited number of places as well as limited resources.
The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has been under strain due to the country’s challenging fiscal environment, with budget cuts resulting in fewer students than targeted being funded.
A second issue that needs to be reflected on is the attitude that South Africans have towards TVET colleges. One of the reasons for the tight competition for spaces at traditional universities is the pervasive mentality that these institutions are better than universities of technology and TVET colleges. The latter, in particular, are seen as inferior, and by implication, those who attend them are deemed to be less intelligent. This attitude has persisted for decades and ample studies have been done that demonstrate that perceptions about TVET college education in SA are not favourable.
The painful irony about such a mindset is that it flies against the logic of re-industrialisation. No country in the world has ever successfully re-industrialised without strengthening its output of artisans in disciplines where TVET colleges are strong.
In Germany, a manufacturing giant in Europe, TVET colleges and universities of technology are taken seriously and the graduates are seen as the heartbeat of the economy. As such, they attract top-performing learners, not those who see them as a last resort. As the class of 2024 begins its tertiary education journey, learners must know that TVET colleges are an option – and not an inferior one at that.
MALAIKA MAHLATSI | Time to prioritise growth of tertiary institutions and debunk misconceptions about TVET colleges
Image: Lulamile Feni
The recent release of matric results by the national department of basic education has brought to finality the journey of secondary education for hundreds of thousands of learners across SA. More than 800,000 candidates sat for the 2024 matric exams, with 615,429 of them passing.
The class of 2024 obtained a pass rate of 87.3% – the highest in the country’s history. Of significance is that 67% of the bachelor passes achieved came from quintile 1 to 3 schools which are found in working-class neighbourhoods, mainly in rural areas and townships.
This must be commended. Our country’s two-tier education system has meant that learners from schools in historically disadvantaged communities have been hurled at the margins when it comes to competing for places in traditional universities in particular.
While this improvement of passes in quintile 1 to 3 schools will not fundamentally erase this trend, given that these learners are still competing for places with those from upper quintiles as well as private schools who enjoy the privilege of being feeder schools to certain universities and other privileges, the playing field is at least tilting slightly in favour of those it has historically been unfair to.
But while somewhat fairer competition for places in traditional universities is welcome, two issues beg for reflection. The first, which I have raised in the past, is that SA needs to increase the number of its higher learning institutions as a matter of urgency.
There are simply not enough public universities and vocational training institutions in SA, and the African continent in general. Consider that the top 10 most populous countries in Africa have a combined population of more than 665-million people, but are served by only 740 universities. SA, with a population of 60.89-million people, has just 26 public universities, 50 technical, vocational education and training (TVET) colleges, and 149 private colleges registered with the department of higher education & training.
This translates to a population per capita served by a higher learning institution at just over 390,000 people. Contrast this with developed countries such as Germany, where there are 423 universities and colleges serving a population of 83.28-million. The implication is that many learners who complete matric will not be in higher education this year due to a limited number of places as well as limited resources.
The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has been under strain due to the country’s challenging fiscal environment, with budget cuts resulting in fewer students than targeted being funded.
A second issue that needs to be reflected on is the attitude that South Africans have towards TVET colleges. One of the reasons for the tight competition for spaces at traditional universities is the pervasive mentality that these institutions are better than universities of technology and TVET colleges. The latter, in particular, are seen as inferior, and by implication, those who attend them are deemed to be less intelligent. This attitude has persisted for decades and ample studies have been done that demonstrate that perceptions about TVET college education in SA are not favourable.
The painful irony about such a mindset is that it flies against the logic of re-industrialisation. No country in the world has ever successfully re-industrialised without strengthening its output of artisans in disciplines where TVET colleges are strong.
In Germany, a manufacturing giant in Europe, TVET colleges and universities of technology are taken seriously and the graduates are seen as the heartbeat of the economy. As such, they attract top-performing learners, not those who see them as a last resort. As the class of 2024 begins its tertiary education journey, learners must know that TVET colleges are an option – and not an inferior one at that.
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