This startling revelation was discovered by Wits vice chancellor Adam Habib, at last night’s Sowetan Dialogues in Soweto.
“Some of it has to do with technical skills, reading, mathematics, they do not have the foundation for a first year degree so we are now unrolling a major programme around identifying students that are struggling and providing them with mentorship and support and we should not delude ourselves that our education system is producing enough quality students so that they can perform,” says Habib.
Continued Habib:” 55% of those who make it to university do not complete their degrees.
“Some struggle with poor grammar and arithmetic,” he pointed out importantly.
With the results of matric being praised by all and sundry, it has become apparent that our students will still continue to struggle entering varsities.
Now the question is, is FET colleges a solution?
Drop outs, no family support structure, poor backgrounds and lack of facilities at schools are some of the contentious issues contributing to the malaise of our education.
A student from a high school- name with held- says we can play the blaming as much as we want but the reality is that we students contribute to this failure as well.
“We’re lazy, lack the desire to initiate things on our own. We always expect teachers to breathe heavily on our necks to do home-works. What is that?” he asked vehemently.
“Until we also play our part in doing our school work, we shall continue having such discussions instead of mapping solutions on how to obtain scholarships and bursaries.”
Meanwhile, Basic Education Department spokesperson Panyaza Lesufi says while it is true that there is a problem of high drop out rates, there were other factors that were not being taken into consideration in this debate.
He says those factors include learners in jail, repetition, learners opting for FET Colleges, private and overseas education, the quality of teaching and learning and lack of remedial support.
Lesufi came down hard on those who said apartheid pass rates were better.
“Apartheid had what you call higher grade, standard grade and lower grade. And the pass mark of lower grade was 25%. If you check the matric pass at that time it’s what you called aggregate pass which means you needed to reach 720 marks for you to pass regardless of how you perform in other subjects, as long as you have 720 marks you pass.”
So, we have numerous problems on our hands, concluded Habib.
This country needs a TRC to identify what problems and solutions could mitigated upon with regards to our education system before its way too late, PLEASE!
