Much has been made of the free education model announced as the final barb by the outgoing president, Jacob Zuma. The 2018-19 budget promised a phased-in process of fee-free university education for all first-year students, starting with 2018’s intake.
About R57bn has been allocated to the project over the next three years. But is this the best way of spending the money? Is a university education the best way of equipping SA’s youth for the challenges of the future?
The reason why fee-free university education is such an emotive issue should be considered. Many see enrolment at a university as a way of uplifting themselves and their families out of poverty. This oversimplification is potentially problematic.
Graduation rates at universities are poor and the degree of those who do manage to graduate does not necessarily qualify them for employment and a good salary.
Some of the most popular university degrees are in the social sciences and arts, which do not require a hard-core maths or science foundation but are also not in great demand by employers. For meaningful job creation education has to be studied in much more broad, modern terms. Some hard truths must be faced:
The pass rates at universities are poor and resources may be better allocated to the foundation levels of education than to university education;
The global changes associated with the Fourth Industrial Revolution require strong maths, science and computer science skills. Yet a good foundation education is lacking in exactly those three sciences. By the time students reach universities it is often too late to build those foundations. SA also lacks sufficient teachers in those subjects to prepare all children for the future;
The quality of nursing in private and public hospitals is abysmal;
Most youth will need to find employment in the informal sector, relying on street smarts and entrepreneurship. They need basic accounting, business management and financial skills to have a sporting chance of success;
SA should embark on a large infrastructure upgrade over the next decade. It needs plumbers, electricians, professional builders and many other skilled artisans;
There is an enormous shortage of skilled information technology (IT) personnel, who work with the nuts and bolts of computer infrastructure;
SA needs computer programming skills to grow the economy; and administrators with basic accounting education and attention to detail are required.
None of these professions requires university degrees, yet all would fall under my broad definition of useful "education" which leads to job creation. SA should relook at where to allocate the resources targeting free education. Free university education is just one such pillar, but resources should not be wasted on "soft" degrees.
SA should "import" maths, science and computer-science teachers from other countries and open teaching colleges focused on upgrading the skills of its own teachers. The country needs more nursing colleges, technical colleges and apprenticeship programmes that train artisans. Colleges that offer basic numeracy, accounting and business management skills, supported by access to funding for small, medium and micro enterprises, are required.
IT training schools that support courses such as those offered by Microsoft and computer support training courses are needed, as are dedicated computer-programming colleges.
Wasting all the resources on university courses seems like an opportunity lost.
• Wierzycka (@Magda_Wierzycka) is Sygnia Group CEO.
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