Good morning readers.
With every New Year there are new ideas and new aspirations and I hope that every dream you have for this year will come to fruition. But remember, they come about seldom by luck and more often by hard work.
While I have a good sense about this year and what it will bring, I cannot help but think about the unfortunate situation at UJ earlier this month. While I am obviously disturbed about the loss of human life, I do feel that aspect is only a small part of the real travesty that we observed.
Our Higher education institutions inclusive of FET colleges can at best accommodate around 100 000 new entrants per annum. Of the somewhat 400 000 matriculants that have passed and are eagerly wanting to start “the rest of their life” 300 000 will be left without anywhere to go.
So let us consider the alternatives. Learners can look for employment. Considering the 45% unemployment rate this does not leave me very hopeful of that scenario. Then there are private training institutions. The private sector could in theory fulfil a much larger need as this is a free market / business venture. It is however very unfortunate that we are seldom viewed as a partner and even less seldom as a part of the solution by the Department Of Higher Education. In fact we are more often considered the public enemy by those who think that charging money for an education is not acceptable. With funding deliberately channelled away from the private institutions in favour of public institutions. (And I won’t even enter the quality debate at this point).
So, thinking back to UJ. There were thousands of students standing outside the University on those days. For me they represent the 75% of youth in this country with nowhere to go. The “ticking time bomb” as the politicians refer to them. Now we’re investigating the Universities’ processes of registration to avoid a recurrence of this tragedy, but we fail to see the real tragedy.
In the minister of Higher Education’s defence, in media releases and interviews following the incident, I was certainly left with the impression that he is aware of the situation and he knows that it needs an urgent response. He is also very commitedly working towards a solution.
It is unfortunate that the solutions being contemplated are effectively shrinking the private institutions in favour of often dysfunctional FET colleges. In principle one cannot disagree that public FETs should be developed and that they should be able to accommodate the majority of school leavers. In my view achieving this will require at least a 10 year turnaround strategy.
Can we not find a way for private and public institutions to co-exist? Today!! We need to help all the hopeless learners outside of Universities’ gates and in the future. Hopefully a brighter future.
Having shared my views on this issue I would like to further remind you that there are quite a few documents that require your comment. They are:
From Assessment College have a wonderful 2012. Aim high!
Best Wishes
Gerda Magnus and The Assessment College Team
