How we can tackle huge shortage of varsity space

The figures are staggering. The University of Johannesburg received 358,992 undergraduate applications but only has place for 10,500.

Stellenbosch University can take 6,005 first-year students from 90,027 applicants.

The University of Cape Town attracted 92,841 applications for entry to undergraduate studies but can only accommodate 4,500.

There are two ways of looking at this problem.

One, almost 50% of those who wrote the National Senior Certificate got a pass qualifying them for university studies, the highest ever.

That’s the problem, some might argue — the standards have become too lax, and these are the consequences.

There is some truth to this position, and we have direct evidence: the high failure rate among first years and the poor time-to-degree for those who stay in the system.

Two, that we need to better manage student expectations. Too many want a university education.

Send most of them to technical colleges (TVETs, in South African parlance) where they can learn practical skills for careers in plumbing and electricity.

That would be nice but TVETs are perceived as offering a lesser quality education than universities; unfortunately, often, perception matches reality.

Build more universities, say others. A tempting solution but where will the money come from?

Few people know that the newish minister of higher education recently pushed vice-chancellors of universities to implement a zero percent fee increase.

Only a person who has never managed a university could come up with such a ridiculous idea.

If only inflation stood still and staff positions were frozen, and buildings, laboratories and computer equipment needed no maintenance.

Fortunately, in a rare moment of united action, university vice-chancellors pushed back hard against the minister’s rash proposal.

So, think very carefully before buying into this risky idea of expanding the number of universities under the current financial regime.

Yes, but there are private universities. Why can’t they take more students?

For the simple reason that it is very expensive, and you do not qualify for government funding via its financial aid scheme if you study anywhere other than a public university.

There is of course private funding available through various agencies but not enough to resolve the numbers problem described above.

So how do we resolve the problem of more than 100,000 students with Bachelors passes (university entrance) who will not find a place to study?

To begin with, there is no single, silver bullet that will resolve this dilemma. Several things must happen at the same time.

First, tighten the school standards for university qualification. Raise the passing bar gradually for every subject in the senior phase of high school to 50% over a five-year period.

This will make for a far more efficient flow of students through first degree studies while giving students a more objective and realistic sense of their post-school study capabilities.

Second, raise the bar for university entrance especially in education and the humanities.

It is well-known that students often opt for non-science and engineering options because these areas of study are perceived as being “easier”.

This is bad for fields like teacher education or the arts. One way to elevate the standards in those areas of study and to start attracting the best-and-the-brightest to music and history education and anthropology is to make these more demanding subjects.

Third, conduct a major overhaul of the TVETs with quality in mind. Raise the standards for lecture appointments and pay them more, if necessary.

Connect the curriculum more strongly to the world of work with paid internships. Install technological infrastructures that guarantee high levels of uninterrupted connectivity with a huge investment in AI-related functions.

Transform the cultures of TVETs into modern, sophisticated and attractive options for smart high school students.

Four, consider expanding bursaries for poor but high-achieving students to enable them to study at private higher education institutions.

In other words, giving the pressing problem of capacity in the public universities, offer bursaries to the so-called “privates”.

Alternatively, the government should open constructive dialogues with the private sector about cost-sharing for students who would be excluded from higher education simply because they could not afford that option.

Five, introduce — again with the private sector — work-based learning opportunities for successful high school graduates.

Instead of wasting their time at home for a year, these students find work in professions aligned with their future plans.

Those students should in some agreement with USAf (Universities SA, the body representing vice-chancellors) be given priority for admissions one year after leaving school.

What we need are imaginative solutions to a seemingly intractable problem that has devastating consequences for hundreds of thousands of young South Africans. Here are some options for public consideration.