Minister urges matriculants to explore all education options

By Khulekani Magubane. HIGHER Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande on Thursday in Pietermaritzburg welcomed last year’s 73.9% National Senior Certificate pass rate, and urged those who did not qualify for university entrance to consider alternatives, including further education and training (FET) colleges.
The Department of Higher Education and Training said on Wednesday that it would provide R6bn to universities between 2012 and 2015 for infrastructure development, with the bulk of the funding going to "historically disadvantaged" institutions.
While the country’s matrics who passed their exams celebrated on Thursday, questions were raised by academics about universities’ abilities to accommodate new entrants.
Mr Nzimande said universities would accept about 180,000 new entrants this year, while public FET colleges had 100,000 available spaces.
More than 270,000 students qualified to enter a higher education institution. Of these, 135,000 will be allowed to enrol at a university. Read more...