Madam – I fear that in this country the cart is always put before the horse.
Let me explain. I agree with the consensus that every South African child is entitled to progress through the education system according to his/her abilities, without the benefit of being pushed through purely to make the numbers right.
If this child in not able under his/her own steam to pass that particular form exam, advancing him/her will not make the next form’s exam any easier.
In fact, maybe that is why school dropout rate is so high due to the daunting prospect of what the next year holds. Now about the cart before the horse aspect. Our Dr Nzimande was espousing the need for our youth to complete post-graduate studies and be awarded with doctorates, in whatever fields, he did not specify.
Sir, much as I believe such qualified persons are important in a developing country, where are the institutions that would afford these highly qualified graduates work?
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Just look at the facts.
There are so many thousand university graduates sitting at home jobless or washing cars because their skills cannot be used. In my mind, emphasis should not really be placed on university education being paramount, but rather the goal should be to boost the students to aim for a college qualification that will afford them the chance to be self employed.
This would take their reliance on government providing jobs away by making them self sufficient entrepreneurs.
This would be preferable to encouraging students to study for a degree qualification only to find that when they graduate, they have nowhere to go because there are no vacancies in that field of study.
Let’s build the cart before buying the horse.
Jan Niemand
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