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The government has to take a stand on educationThe legacy of relatively high dropout figures in South African schools is frightening, with 2.5 million young people aged 18 to 24 neither working nor in any kind of education or training.
Most, claimed a recent article in the Financial Mail, have dropped out of school early, only 46% stayed in school long enough to write Matric, of whom about 60% passed. The result: only 28% of them have a Matric certificate. (Source: Financial Mail, 26 March 2010).
The first quarter results from Statistics South Africa (2010) point to 25% of South Africans without a job. Among the youth, that rate is double.
South Africa is sitting on a social time bomb, but can anything be done to address this escalating crisis?
Professor Theuns Eloff, rector and vice chancellor of the North-West University and former chairperson of Higher Education South Africa (HESA), says the matter should officially be taken to the newly founded National Planning Commission in the Office of the Presidency.
The aim should be to devise a proper strategy accounting for all related aspects of the matter (among others, the economic, psychological, social, educational and other related facets).
Apart from this, it is important to put the matter on the agenda of non-governmental organisations, provincial and local governments, and businesses.
If South Africa aspires to meet its long-term economic goals toward sustainability, as well as its targets in terms of a high-level skilled working force, a concerted effort is required to eradicate the unemployment figures in the school-leaving population.
Metcalfe on the government’s commitment
Dr Mary Metcalfe, director-general of Higher Education and Training, says the strategy of the government to address the situation is multipronged. It focuses on inclusive economic growth with sustainable job creation, as well as short-term work opportunities through the
Extended Public Works Programme.
The government also is committed to long-term investment in education and training to build the capacity to sustain South Africa’s economic growth plans.
Furthermore, the Cabinet has introduced social grants to be of financial assistance to poor families.
Long-term strategy to increase pass rate
A long-term strategy to address the poor pass rate of 60.7% is on the agenda of the Human Resources Development Strategy of South Africa (HRDSA).
The targets that South Africa wants to achieve by 2004, says Dr Metcalfe, are:
• The number of Grade 12 learners to pass the national examinations and must qualify to enter a Bachelor’s programme at a university, must increase from 105 000 to 175 000;
• The number of Grade 12 learners who pass mathematics and physical science must be 225 000 and 165 000 respectively; and
• The percentage of learners in Grades 3, 6 and 9 in public schools who obtain the minimum acceptable mark in the national assessments for language and mathematics (or numeracy) must improve from between 27% and 38% to at least 60%.
In order to support the achievement of the targets for the education system, the Department of Basic Education has set out the following priorities:
• By 2014, there will be universal access to Grade R for all age-appropriate children;
• Adequate learning and teaching materials will be developed and distributed particularly to those schools that the department has identified; and
• Standardised national assessments of the quality of learning will take place in Grades 3, 6 and 9 on an annual basis.
Nzimande on South Africa’s educational shortfall
At the launch of the HRDSA, Minister of Higher Education and Training Dr Blade Nzimande said that educational performance still replicates patterns of poverty and privilege.
The patterns of unequal educational outcomes are endlessly repeated through occupational inequalities from one generation to the next.
Work done as part of the situational analysis that informed the HRDSA points to the fact that of those learners who completed Grade 9, fewer than 90% reach Grade 10, about three-quarters reach Grade 11, and only between 55% and 60% reach Grade 12.
Only slightly more than 46% of the 1980 to 1984 birth cohort who started Grade 1 eventually reached Grade 12.
These figures represent, in hard economic terms, major systemic inefficiencies and a waste of resources.
The HRDSA
Prof. Eloff says that if one takes a closer look at the Strategic Plan 2010-2015 of the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), it becomes evident that the matter of dropouts and the high number of unemployed youths in the age group between 18 and 24 is high on the national agenda.
Various initiatives are under way. These include the HRDSA that is aimed at facilitating human development, with building capabilities for generating sustainable economic growth.
The example of OECD countries
Prof. Eloff says South Africa can learn from other developing countries, and specifically countries that form part of the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), on ways to accommodate the jobless youth into the labour market.
The average youth unemployment figure is around 19% in the OECD environment. There are about 25% jobless youths in France, Italy and the United Sates, while 40% in Spain cannot find a job. Youth unemployment in Germany remains stable at approximately 10%.
Various state initiatives exist in these countries to prevent youth unemployment.
Apart from policy measures, training programmes and subsidised work experiences for young people – the so-called Youth Guarantee in the United Kingdom – hold much promise.
This initiative introduced by the British Labour Party pledges to guarantee work or training to young people who are unemployed for a period of six months.
High university dropout figures
Dr Metcalfe says that the DHET is concerned about the internal efficiency of South African universities, and about the relatively low success and high dropout rates.
It is allocating special funds to institutions to help universities improve success and graduation rates because of the importance of raising graduate totals in the interests of national social and economic development.
The department has not attempted to put a rand cost to the relatively low success and graduation rates. Its view is that those who spend even short periods in a university will become better, more productive citizens.
Labour market studies have shown, for example, that those who have spent time at a university, even though they have not graduated, have better chances of finding employment than those with only a Grade 12 pass, said Dr Metcalfe.
Second and third chances
Must school and university dropouts be afforded second and third chances?
Prof. Eloff says students should be afforded opportunities to improve their chances of success, provided that such a process is well structured and aims at comprehensive support to these students. It includes vocational counselling, career guidance and psychometric testing. “To my knowledge, these services are provided by South African universities,” adds Prof. Eloff.
Dr Metcalfe says that her department told Financial Mail (26 March 2010) that the DHET has started thinking about expanding the variety of after-school options. Instead of full-time courses that are now the norm at colleges, the idea would be to provide more, shorter vocational courses aimed at both providing ‘second chances’ for dropouts and more directly meeting the needs of the workplace.
More ideas on after-school options
Prof. Eloff told Achiever that South Africa should be looking at expanding after-school options.
The time is opportune to seek various innovative and creative ways to expand the current after-school options in South Africa.
Apart from developing an educational palette with various options to see to the true massification of post-secondary teaching in South Africa, the country also needs to develop a well-functioning, tailor-made distance education model suitable for South African circumstances.
Expanding FET colleges
Dr Nzimande said the shape of the post?secondary system is not appropriately balanced between universities and colleges.
While access to universities must be increased, enrolment in colleges must double in the next five years.
The government has invested R1.9 billion over the last three years in the further education and training (FET) college subsystem. The government is now taking steps to enhance access to these institutions and the quality of courses they provide.
The goal is to increase the number of young people and adults accessing continuing education at these technical and vocational centres, in a way that supports an inclusive growth path.
Final thoughts
Prof. Eloff says that four aspects require focused attention if South Africa is serious about solving youth unemployment in South Africa. The schooling system requires a complete overhaul, both in conceptual and practical terms.
The aim of this overhaul is to equip proper school-leavers for the following development phases.
The FET system should be expanded to accommodate at least four million school-leavers. This would be approximately 10 times that of the current university population. South Africa requires a social intervention aimed at country service. “And finally, if the South African economy does not grow, we’ll suffer to solve the matter in an optimal way,” concludes Prof. Eloff.
Fanie Heyns
