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Johannesburg - Students entering tertiary education need to be equipped with the life skills to cope with the responsibility of studying for a degree, an education specialist said on Wednesday.
Responding to the 2013 budget by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan in Cape Town, Godfrey Madanhire said he believed the government's spending should equip students with the necessary skills.
"Tertiary education needs to be made available to a greater number of students, who need to have the life skill to cope with the stress and responsibility of completing a degree or diploma," said Madanhire.
"The fact that around 40% of [the] 18- to 29-year-old age group is unemployed should be a wake-up call for everyone.
He said pouring millions of rand into Further Education and Training colleges and Sector Education and Training Authorities was pointless if only around a quarter of the students who started university graduated.
"Children who have had no effective life skills training at primary and secondary school level will most likely flunk out at tertiary," he said.
"They do not have the mental, emotional or social resources to cope with the pressures of further education."
In his Budget speech, Gordhan said that over the next year, the basic education sector would focus on improving numeracy and literacy skills, expanding Grade R enrolment and reducing school infrastructure backlogs.
"The total number of students enrolled in higher education institutions is expected to increase from 910 000 currently to 990 000 in 2015," he said. "Funding has been allocated for the construction of new universities in the Northern Cape and Mpumalanga to commence this year."
* Visit our 2013 Budget section for full coverage of Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan's National Budget speech.
