Varsity placement crisis hits matric top achievers

THE euphoria following one of the country’s best-ever matric pass rates has been tempered by the harsh reality that high marks do not guarantee a place at university.

- ANITA NKONKI WENDY JASSON DA COSTA and TRACY-LYNN RUITERS

Across the country, universities face overwhelming demand as thousands of first-time applicants hope to get in.

The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) received 326 546 applications for 9 000 first-year places.

UCT had 102 182 applications for 4 000 places, while UWC received more than 177 000 applications for just 4 715 places. The University of Johannesburg (UJ) processed 450,000 applications for its first-year intake of 11,200 students, while Wits University received 160,000 applications for about 5,800 places.

Similar pressures are evident at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) and North-West University (NWU). “It’s going to be absolutely catastrophic,” said Professor Wayne Hugo of UKZN. “Universities aren’t getting enough funding to keep pace with the growth in bachelor passes and the demand for students to access university.”

Hugo said NSFAS also cannot fund everyone and blamed the crisis on government underfunding. He encouraged matriculants to focus on technical and vocational qualifications as well as nontraditional forms of education. “Huge organisations like Vodacom, Google, Facebook, and Gemini all offer free courses that give you globally recognised qualifications,” said Hugo. “The other option is TVET colleges, where students can simultaneously work and acquire skills.”