No room for 50,000 grade 12s

MORE than 50,000 grade 12 students will not find places in tertiary institutions because of space limitation, according to Education Minister Nick Kuman.
Out of the 72,000 who sat for national examinations this month, only 18,000 were guaranteed a place in tertiary institutions because tertiary institutions could cater for only 25 per cent of the student population, he said.
“This is a big problem that needs to be addressed. Partners must come together and find out where the problem is and find solutions,” he said. “More than 70 per cent of grade 12 students leaving school every year are denied further education because there is not enough space in tertiary institutions.
“There are some bright students who are not continuing into tertiary education because spaces in the institutions are limited and the system of selection is not right.
“Institutions need to increase their capacity and certain selection criteria needs to be made fair so we can have more grade 12 students going through to higher education.”
He said the focus was now on quality education. “Our policy on tuition fee was all about accessibility and we have achieved that for students from elementary to secondary schools,” Kuman said.
“But after that is the grade 12 school leavers. It is (what we need) to look into.”