Johannesburg – Education experts have warned that matriculants should not fall into despair should they be rejected by universities due to limited space as there are other options to pursue postschool education.
Stadio higher education chief academic officer Divya Singh said thousands of matric pupils faced rejection in 2021 as South Africa’s state-funded public universities are unable to meet the demand for spaces.
“Many people erroneously believe you can only get a degree, or even a doctorate, at a university,” Singh said.
“This is not correct. Private higher education institutions like stadio, which are registered with DHET [Department of Higher Education and Training], offer accredited qualifications of equal quality to the public institutions.”
Sunday World last year reported that the 2019 class also faced limited opportunities to go to university. Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said that 186 058 matriculants achieved a bachelor pass while 144 762 received a diploma pass with a further 78 984 receiving a higher certificate. Wits last year received 68 752 applications for first-year studies but could only admit 4 900 students.
Its medical school received 14 000 applications yet it could only accommodate 220 students. UCT attracted 73 000 undergraduates for 2020 but only 4 200 first-year students could be enrolled.
The University of Pretoria received 37 000 first year applications though they could only cater for 9 000 students. More than 1-million matric candidates sat for the NSC (national senior certificate) exams last year, making this the largest examination to be administered in the country.
Singh said government regulations only allowed for public higher education institutions to call themselves “universities” even though the Council on Higher Education accredited all programmes from both public and private, and the South African Qualifications Authority applied the same standards.
“This is why matriculants should not despair as there is now an excellent range of private tertiary offerings that can accommodate them and offer considerable benefit,” Singh said.
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