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Education in South Africa is in a state of crisis, with matric pass rates plummeting, tertiary institutions in turmoil and serious teaching skills shortages thick on the ground. Findings on a recent report by the Global Campaign for Education ranked the quality of South African schools at 50 out of 156 developing economies. Unless the quality and shortfalls in South Africa's education system are properly addressed, skills shortages will continue to place a serious strain on economic growth and South Africa will be left behind by other developing economies. Students seem to be fighting a never-ending battle in their quest for knowledge: with universities unable to distribute enough funding, partial bursaries proving insufficient and lack of pertinent advice and guidance regarding courses and subjects, it's no wonder that many students give up and drop out in their first year of study.

According to recent information released by Higher Education SA (HESA), a Section 21 company representing all 23 public universities and technikons in South Africa, the dropout rate has escalated alarmingly in recent years, and is hitting highs of up of up to 35 percent at some universities, with the bulk of those leaving being first-year students. The Human Sciences Research Council's recent study of about 34 000 students showed that of this amount, only 14 000 students graduated, with some 20 000 dropping out of their courses, most of them being either in their first year or midway through their second year of study.

There are many factors that contribute to this phenomenon, with two major factors topping the list:

Lack of Information
It has been found that in the final year of high-school students are not provided with the advice, information and guidance required in order for them to make conscious and holistic choices of possible areas and subjects of study and concrete pathways to these - this can become a very costly mistake, both in terms of ‘wasting' time and finances, as well as students then losing interest in their tertiary studies and dropping out. Says Ronen Aires, CEO of Student Village, south Africa's leading student social networking and information portal: "Yes, teachers first need to be educated as to what options are available to their students, and how to guide students with an aptitude for a particular area of study into the correct course, tertiary institution and career options. BUT - it's also up to students to start being more proactive, and more assertive about what they enjoy doing, what they envision themselves doing, and how they would like to see their future careers unfold. Students that are part of ‘the Village' do a wonderful job alerting their friends to our existence and bringing potential students to our portal, where they feel empowered at being offered a substantial range of information on study and careers and being equipped to make the best choices for their future."

Student Village's real-time answer to the issue of lack of pertinent post-matric information is neatly contained within the pages of their savvy and direly-needed biannual print publication, Future Leader, aimed at Grade 12 school-leavers. Launched in 2006, this popular magazine provides school-leavers with informative articles, resource lists and company profiles to inform them of career pathways, tertiary institution and study options, apprenticeships and bursaries.

Established in 2001, Student Village is now the leading South African social-networking and study information portal for students across the country, comprising over 30 registered campuses and offering in-depth, specific and detailed information on all things student-related. Young people visiting www.studentvillage.co.za will get the low-down on campus life, network with fellow students and join online communities geared towards their interests and areas of study - and the site is complemented by a print publication entitled the ‘Village Voice'.

Village Voice also highlights another new offering from Student Village - Village Mobile. This is a cellphone-based offering that extends the reach of the Web site as students are now accessing Student Village via their phones on www.sv.co.za. "The take-up of Village Mobile has been great," says Student Village director Marc Kornberger. "Students are using it as a complement to their surfing in the varsity computer labs and clients are loving the way this new mobile platform is also extending the reach of their advertising campaigns on the site."

To take the spread of info one step further, by accessing the ‘Careers' section of the Student Village website, students will click through to www.GradX.net, which is Student Village's premier online student career and lifestyle guide, containing vitally important resource lists (on tertiary institutions, corporate bursaries, career pathways and more) and detailing all that students need to know about graduate recruitment, entrepreneurship, taking a gap year and further study - there is also a hardcopy Grad X to complement the website. Student Village also has a networking/skills development platform - www.villagepro.co.za - and by covering all of these avenues Student Village ensures it will be there for students from well before entering the world of higher education to well after they have graduated and are settled in their chosen professions.

Lack of Finance
There's no doubt that tertiary education is a costly business - students can expect to pay between R15, 000 and R25,000 per year for most undergraduate degrees and even more for specialised or professional degrees such as law and medicine. South Africa's current state of economic turmoil, interest rate hikes and skyrocketing inflation all contribute to the sad fact that many potentially successful students will never, by virtue of socio-economic factors, be able to see their educational dreams come to fruition and the desired letters behind their names. A recent study by The Human Sciences Research Council revealed that many students enrolled at South African tertiary institutions are from extremely poor homes - with a paltry combined household income of between R400 and R1600 per month - and so land up taking on part-time jobs to try and meet both their educational and daily survival obligations, with their studies invariably being affected and them ultimately dropping out altogether. It stands to reason that, without proper education, these people will then not be able to contribute positively to the future growth of the economy and - in all likelihood, they will become a liability, rather than an asset, to South Africa.

One of the run-off effects of potential students not obtaining comprehensive enough information regarding their study options is that many of them are also misinformed, or uninformed, of the financial side of their study commitments. Says Zivana Jenkinson, General Marketing Manager of Edu-Loan, South Africa's dedicated education financial services provider: "Some students apply for partial bursaries and then find themselves stuck with additional costs they can't afford, and even students with full bursaries underestimate the total cost of education. Aside from the tuition, there are textbooks, transport, food, accommodation and other living costs that can financially cripple the student - and that's when they drop out. In fact, even those students who are aware of bursary providers are unaware of the processes and requirements involved in order to satisfy the criteria for a bursary, and many eligible students slip through the administrative cracks and miss out on starting or completing their studies." Another factor is that some students, in trying to meet all the costs involved, try to work fulltime and study concurrently, which places huge stress on them and detracts from proper focus on their education. It's clear that students also need to be educated about finances and financial management, and that's where a company like Edu-Loan is invaluable. "Because it is Edu-Loan's business to provide financial solutions to existing and prospective students and to make sure that tertiary education is accessible to all South Africans, we have insight and knowledge as to what kind of financing is required, for how long and what it covers. Therefore, we are in the perfect position to advise students on all the financial aspects of education and are happy to do so." Edu-Loan has been in existence for eleven years and have assisted 500 000 students, to the tune of R1.7 billion's worth of financial loan assistance and are represented in campuses of every major university in South Africa. Many new students are stunned by the administrative burden involved in allocating their funds to the correct expenditure, and land up over or underspending in one or more areas - either tuition, textbooks, accommodation, food or entertainment expenses. So, aside from providing educational study financing, Edu-Loan also offers the Edu-Xtras card, which is essentially a ‘debit' card that enables students to responsibly manage their study funds and related expenses. For further information, visit www.eduloan.co.za or call their Client Services Department on 0860-55-55-44.

By being aware of the reasons for South Africa's high dropout rate and combating these factors with concrete, accessible and enlightening information, it certainly is possible to enable students to be proactive and empower themselves in order to gain entry into the world of tertiary education and, more importantly, stay the course. And with companies like Student Village and Edu-Loan committed to offering a lending hand to students and shining a guiding light on the sometimes murky pathway of tertiary education, then the prophetic words of South Africa's most famous scholar, Nelson Mandela, namely that ‘Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world', will indeed be realised - and South Africa certainly is a good place for that change to start!

Editorial Contact:
Olivia Neves
Kezi Communications (Pty) Ltd
Tel: 011 616 1860
olivia@kezi.co.za
www.kezi.co.za

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