ANC YOUTH LEAGUE IS INSPIRED THAT ULTIMATELY OUR CONCERN OF THE AVAILABILITY OF SPACES IN INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING IS BEING ACKNOWLEDGED, PARTICULARLY BY HIGHER EDUCATION SOUTH AFRICA.

12 January 2012

 The ANC Youth League is inspired that our observation that the number of spaces available for students in Universities is far lesser than the number of students is being acknowledged as a reality across the board. In the statement the ANC Youth League released on the 23rd of January 2011, we said, "The ANC Youth League is very inspired that as many young people as possible have responded to our call that they should love education."

The long queues in Universities and Universities of Technology is a confirmation that many young people want to go to school and acquire knowledge and skills. We call on government to massively invest in the expansion of Universities and FET Colleges to accommodate as many young people as possible.

The Programme of Action for Economic Freedom in Our Lifetime, which was adopted by the ANC YL 24TH National Congress in June 2011 says, "The post secondary education and training capacity in South Africa presently does not respond to the quantities of the number of learners produced by the general education system. General education produces close to a million learners annually through senior certificates, drop-out at all Grades for varied reasons, exclusions and many other socio-economic reasons.

These learners should be provided with opportunities for post secondary training, education and development through mechanisms which will include Higher Education Institutions, Further Education and Training Colleges, support of Small and Medium Enterprises varied other forms of vocational training".

The ANC Youth League is inspired that ultimately, Higher Education South Africa (HESA), which is an association of all Vice Chancellors and Principals of all institutions of higher learning in South Africa released a statement on the 12th of January 2012 says, "There are too many eligible students for the available university places.

This is largely due to the fact that there aren't sufficient post-school options available to school leavers eligible for further studies. Many such school leavers seek entry into public universities simply due to the limited opportunities available to them for other post-school options in our national education and training system. This growing demand has severely stretched the current capacities of our public universities".

Now that Higher Education South Africa has admitted this reality, the ANC Youth League calls on all South Africans, in particular the South African government and the department of higher education to acknowledge this crisis and work with all relevant stakeholder to come with sustainable solutions to the problem.

The department of higher education should not be trapped in denying of the reality that there are fewer spaces in institutions of higher learning and many students, because such will deny the department an opportunity to come with urgent solutions to the crisis. The ANC YL has verified through research that not all students who passed Matric will be absolved into institutions of higher learning, simply because there are no spaces available.

The ANC Youth League's Programme of Action for Economic Freedom in Our Lifetime proposes that, "As a matter of principle, the State should build capacity at post secondary education and training which will be in a position to absolve all learners who pass their senior certificates and/or leave school at Grades 10 and 11.

This entails amongst other things that the State should heavily invest in the qualitative and quantitative expansion Higher Education Institutions, FET colleges, SMME Mentorship programmes and other vocational training programmes and institutions. This should necessarily be accompanied by a comprehensive strategy of insulating indigent learners from paying fees in all these institutions".

The ANC Youth League calls on all responsible South Africans to contribute to this discourse and come with proposals on how post secondary education, training and opportunities for youth should be handled. The ANC Youth League will soon meet with the Ministry of Higher Education to once again re-emphasise the need to expedite the building of the Universities of Mpumalanga and Northern Cape, and also propose a National Summit to discuss and come with solutions on how best South Africa addresses the reality of many students and fewer spaces and opportunities at post secondary level.

Forward to free quality education for all forward!

Statement issued by the ANC Youth League, January 12 2012

Click here to sign up to receive our free daily headline email newsletter