Kishugu Business School reflects on 2021 matric results and how it impacts higher education
With the opening of the Kishugu Business School (KBS) earlier this month, business leaders in various industries such as education, legal, corporate business and the digital market were invited to a Thought Leadership session, that was addressed by the Vice-Principal responsible for Strategy, Risk and Advisory Services at UNISA, Prof. Khehla Ndlovu.
According to Thomas Varghese, Director at KBS, we want to drive a new initiative in town called #Mbombela Talks, and invite Thought Leaders to discuss pressing issues, ideas and initiatives within their industry. “In this way we can all learn, adapt, grow and make change where it’s needed. It will force us to think differently about life, industries and start new interventions to grow our economy and it’s people.”
With the first Thought Leadership session, KBS has taken the lead to open up conversations about the matric results. “It’s not usually a topic of discussion,” he explained. Matriculants receive their results, the minister announces the statistics in a state address, but there is no platform where further discussions, brainstorming and solutions are found to address the massive shortage in higher education and where the private sector can really make a difference. Not many people know under what pressure the higher tertiary institutions are operating in. Therefore, I’m very grateful that with our first #Mbombela Talk Leadership discussion, we can create this platform to be solution based for a brighter future for all.
Prof. Ndlovu gave a very insightful discussion on the “2021 matric results and how it impacts the higher education system.”
He expressed his concern on the increasing pressure on the Higher Education Sector and Government Funding, including the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS). “With Covid-19 that took it’s toll globally over the past 2 years, matriculants also suffered where they had to study at home, with sometimes no internet access or contact with teachers. We have to give credit where it’s due, as they went through stressful situations to get through the curriculum in time under sometimes extremely difficult situations,” Ndlovu said.
Of the 704,021 matriculants that wrote exams, 537,867 passed matric.
Ndlovu further stated that since 2016 where 158 891 first time undergraduates entered higher tertiary institutions, the number has grown to 208 299 in 2022. Therefore 19% of matriculants were accepted at higher tertiary institutions this year. “For the rest, we still need to account for in terms of further studies.”
He stressed that government and universities rely much more on the private sector to ensure a brighter future for our youngsters. With the more than 300 private institutions in South Africa, both registered and unregistered with the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) we have to further explore the contribution that private institutions, such as Kishugu Business School, can make as well as considering subsidy support to ease the burden of potential students.
“With this in mind, Kishugu Business School is geared to create a platform for the people of our province to study various courses, from Diplomas to skills programmes, and in return create future business leaders through education excellence,” Thomas stated.
“We invite anyone, from matriculants to working people who would still like to upskill themselves in some or other way, to enrol with KBS today. “We will serve those students who wish to obtain a formal qualification and an accredited membership of an esteemed and recognised institutes that will allow them to participate freely in the employment market and, more importantly, prepare them to become entrepreneurs for creating employment.
We also invite corporates, industries, entrepreneurs and business leaders, to set up discussions with KBS and share their ideas to take the #Mbombela Talks concept further. “We are giving this community a promise to continue with this platform, that would be an enabler for the academia and the industry to work together – thought leadership talk on Matric result analysis is available on our you tube channel for those who may interested to listen. Thomas concluded.
