ALL deserve UNIVERSITY edukation

Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande, who will take over the troubled Setas, wants experienced workers without matric - or matriculants without exemptions - to study at universities. (from IOL)

"Why should a 40-year-old adult who didn't get a matric exemption, but has 12 years' work experience, go and write matric exams when he has enormous experience?" (Because standing in the garden with a spade for 12 years hasn't made him more intelligent and literate!)

The fact that only 18 percent of matriculants gained matric exemptions last year was not a true reflection of the potential of the youth. (It's not a reflection of the youth, but a reflection on the schools and the teachers at those schools. The problem does not lie in the admission standards.... it lies in the academic standards for the schools. Changing the admission standards is not ever going to improve the quality of the students. Earning a university degree requires motivation, dedication and perseverence.)

A report on post-compulsory school provision, commissioned by former education minister Naledi Pandor, found that 2.8 million of 6.8 million 18-to-24-year-olds in South Africa were not employed, in educational institutions or at workplace training.

Said Nzimande: "This implies 40 percent of our youth are not productively engaged due to very limited access to post-school education and training opportunities, poor resources, the lack of financing and the restricted unavailability of jobs. (Blade does not mention how getting a degree from a university translates to a job nor how many umemployed people there are with degrees.)

"This is a huge wastage of human potential."