People’s assumptions about post-school studies may lead to recommendations that are not necessarily in a school-leaver’s best interests. For too long, a matric exemption has been hailed as the be-all and end-all, giving rise to expectations that, while well-intended, could end up pushing people into university who should never be there. Matric is a milestone, but any milestone is only one point on a journey. And while an exemption broadens one’s options, the decision to go to university must be made for the right reasons.
It is still too common to hear of young adults being advised to “get the exemption, get the degree and then decide what to do”. Anything other than an exemption and young adults are seen to have already failed hurdle number one in becoming meaningful members of society. This is because, in general, the hierarchical view of tertiary education, where anything outside of a university degree is considered second prize, still prevails.
Young people who register for degrees merely on the basis of their having been able to do so, rather than taking that route with a clear sense of what they want to do with their adult working life, still run the risk of realising, five years down the line, that they are no closer to their goals than when they first enrolled. Still more time and effort need to be expended in assisting matriculants to identify their strengths, their aspirations and the range of routes to that endpoint. Clearly a degree and postgraduate study is just the right route for some, but alternative routes have different, not lesser, value.
A two-year programme, while a quicker route to economic independence, is not the preferred route for someone who wishes to be a chartered accountant, is a very sensible route for someone with different aspirations in the financial management side of business who wishes to learn direct skills in bookkeeping and accounting practice.
Aspirations are too easily built on what is perceived to be the pinnacle of a vocational field. Insufficient information is provided to young people on what the range of professions and occupations are in the general field. For instance, many could tell you that a four-year degree is a requirement to be a professional engineer, but far fewer can speak with confidence about the other occupations — from drafting, to environmental impact assessment to project management — that are in the same field and would be just as rewarding, but allow different post-school study choices.
We’re incredibly privileged in South Africa to have a wide range of public and private institutions offering a host of credible qualifications and training opportunities. Maximising use of these by presenting them as legitimate choices to young people will involve challenging the assumptions that underpin the strict hierarchical view we have of what is on offer.
If the hierarchy were real, we would have far fewer unemployed graduates: perhaps part of what lies behind the unemployability of some graduates is the mismatch between people, their talents and their aspirations and what the employers need. It is simplistic to lay the full responsibility at the door of the market.
In my experience, it’s not necessarily the people who get the best academic results who do well in the workplace. Sustained achievement comes from well-rounded people who have managed to balance their academic studies with other interests and activities and bring this sense of balance with them to the workplace. The ability of an education provider to offer students more than just a sound classroom experience is thus important — sport, social and lifeskills opportunities all add to the full meaning and value of education.
So many people leave school not knowing what to do next. Their choices about what to do and where to register are too often based on who markets themselves best or what the “expected next step” is for pride or traditional reasons. I worry about the aggressive recruiting methods of some institutions, both public and private, where the pressure to get the numbers comes at the expense of students’ needs and ultimate goals.
In an ideal world, institutions would assess each individual applicant and make recommendations based on who they are and not solely on what the provider has to offer. But, the reality is that this simply isn’t feasible; individuals need to take responsibility for their own choices. They are better able to make reasoned choices if they are given better access to more information that does not overtly or covertly reinforce a simplistic hierarchy.
All providers need to manage their recruitment and registration activities with a clear sense of their ethical responsibility. Cross-selling between faculties or offering alternative routes that have no real value (“do this and then you may get into that”) or vague information about the financial, time and intellectual requirements of a programme are all too common and need urgent attention. There is a great national drive to protect the registered student, but equal attention needs to be given to aspirant students.
Just as there is often more than one way to realise one’s career aspirations, so too do qualifications present more than one opportunity. A qualification doesn’t have to have the name of a job in it to make a person employable. Education is not just about content — it is also about the set of values, skills and attitudes one gains. For this reason philosophy graduates are popular entry-level appointments in the banking industry in some developed economies.
Nevertheless, a direct match between the programme of study and a vocation or occupation or profession is frequently a safer route in the growing economy. It is thus vital that prospective students understand what they will learn and how they can use it — particularly to employ themselves.
A final word to all those making the decisions right now. Approach your post-school learning as an investment, with you as the product. Don’t define your skills only by the kind of job you can get. Look at your education as a means for you to find economic independence as well as personal growth — not as a means simply to make you attractive to an employer. A good education will provide you with what you need to look after yourself — even if the employer market does not. This is only possible if you are doing what you want to do — not what tradition or pressure or teachers or habit have made you do.
Dr Felicity Coughlan is director of the Independent Institute of Education