It’s that time of year again when universities open their doors to thousands of first years, all of whom need to decide what they want to do for the rest of their lives.

The outcome of that decision can be affected by a number of factors, not least of which is the fact that the proportion of people of working age who are employed depends largely on a person’s level of education.

The absorption rate for people with tertiary education is 75,6%, while people with a matric as their highest level of education, have an absorption rate of 50,3%, reports BusinessTech.

To accommodate this reality, universities have been forced to open their doors to more and more students, evident in the table below mapping enrolment since 2008:

Before we move on to the most popular degrees in the country at the moment, it’s worth taking a moment to look at why university enrolment has increased. Firstly, it’s never been easier to obtain a Matric Bachelor’s pass in South Africa.

Couple the lowered standards with an election year and you’re golden. Here’s MyBroadband with why:

Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga recently announced that the matric pass rate for the class of 2018 is 78.2%.

This pass rate is a significant improvement over the 2017 pass rate of 75.1%, and the highest since the class of 2013’s 78.3%.

This raises the question as to what makes 2013 and 2018 so special, and the answer is simple – these results preceded general elections in South Africa.

Marks can easily be adjusted upwards, as was the case with 17 out of the 67 subjects written last year.

In short, students are not prepared for tertiary education, which happens at a certain level regardless of whether or not it’s an election year.

This might account for the staggering statistics revealing that 166 224 (close to 8%) of South Africa’s university graduates are aged 20–24, whereas the majority (close to 52%) are between 25 and 44 years old, as students take longer to complete their degrees.

As for what people are studying, here’s the breakdown:

For many, obtaining a university degree is just a stepping stone to getting a high paying job. If you’re in it for the cash, you’ll want to make sure that you enrol in one of these degrees to prepare:

The universities are at capacity, the academics are overworked, and the politicians are manipulating education according to their needs.

In the end, it’s the students who suffer. Well, them and whoever is unlucky enough to be in the building held up by the designs of an underqualified engineer who’s just in it for the money.

[source:businesstech&mybroadband]