Is a four year undergraduate degree on the cards?

 The Department of of Higher Education and Training of South Africa is considering changing the minimum number of years required to complete most South African first degrees from three to four, spokeswoman Ranjeni Munusamy said recently. Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande has made better success rates in SA’s universities and colleges one of his priorities.

Research by the Council on Higher Education (CHE) shows a four-year undergraduate degree would allow the higher education sector to support students whose school education had not adequately prepared them for higher education.

The Research also shows 40% of those who enrol at a higher education institution will never get a qualification, and 50% of that same group will take five years to graduate, said CHE advice and monitoring director Dr Judy Backhouse. 

The research comes from a pilot study at the universities of the Witwatersrand, Stellenbosch, the Free State, Fort Hare, Johannesburg and the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University and at two universities of technology, Tshwane and Cape Peninsula.

The CHE research is to be published later this year.

To read more go to the Business Day article by Sue Blaine on allAfrica.com by Clicking Here!

Minister Nzimande suggests changes to the current South African education system

The Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande recently suggested that the current matric exemption system should be revised. He said the exemption rate of 18% of South African matriculants was too low to accept as a reflection of  their abilities. “It is not true that that all students who do not get exemptions cannot succeed in higher education”, he said at a briefing ahead of the education budget debate. According to Nzimande ways and means will have to be found to identify those who have potential even if they did not get an exemption.

The Higher Education Review Committee is looking at the possibility of introducing university entrance exams to give students who failed in getting exemption another chance at studying at higher education institutions.

Universities have complained that matriculants lack the necessary academic skill to cope with higher learning. According to Nzimande the universities will have to take responsibility in helping them adjust.

Nzimande also mooted the possibility of increasing the time needed to finish a standard degree from three to four years. If this is applied it could lead to the abolishment of honours degrees, and students with a degree could then proceed directly to masters, as is the case in many other countries.

To read more go to the News24 article “Nzimande moots educational changes” by Clicking Here!