Grade Nine learners are currently wrestling with the decision of which subjects they will take to matric.
These subjects will stay with these learners for the rest of their school careers and ultimately will be the subjects in which they will be tested in their final school exams when they sit for their National Senior Certificate exams in 2017.
“Grade Nines must choose their subjects with care, and not before they have thoroughly done their homework about the implications of their choice,” says Dr Felicity Coughlan, director of The Independent Institute of Education.
“Although it is a big ask for 15-year-olds to make such an important decision at a relatively young age, it should be looked at as an exciting first step into their future as adults,” she says.
Coughlan advised that learners keep their options open for as long as possible, so that they will still have options when their needs, interests and aspirations change by the time they are 17.
She gave some points to consider:
- Ask yourself who you want to be when you grow up.
- Many young people will hope to pass matric well enough to be able to study further.
- Some will have aspirations for degrees that are strict about required subjects and performance.
- “If you are clear about what you want to do, check out the websites of both public and private higher education institutions to verify their requirements and let that guide your subject choices.
- For those who don’t know what they want to be when grown up, Coughlan suggests making choices that will keep a wide range of options open.
- “Ensure that all your subjects are drawn from the list of designated subjects which higher education institutions require for admission.”
She says subjects such as mathematics and science allow you to keep your options open, as many areas of further study require these.
- Determine what makes you happy and which subjects mirror your interests and career dreams, and include these in your choice of subjects.
- What are you good at?
Choose at least two subjects that you really enjoy and in which you can do well.
Starting to work?
If you don’t want to pursue a degree after matric, making subject choices will be a more flexible. The South African National Senior Certificate has four levels of pass. One of them is the degree pass, but you could also qualify for diploma or higher certificate study.
The diploma or higher certificate qualifications, which are normally vocationally or career-focused, could give you access to the world of work and even a degree study if you wanted to do this later.
There are also options in public and private FET Colleges, or you may want to start your own business.
In these cases, a pass that enables access to higher education may not be as important and it makes sense to include business or information technology-geared subjects.
