February 5 2004
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February 5 2004 |
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Back to education. There was a big outcry about the matric pass rate in this country at the beginning of the year. The only ones that really stood out were the straight A students. And there were plenty of them. What really upset people )paying mothers and fathers) is the fact that you need 35% to pass! There were questions about the kids being really qualified to go to varsity due to the "relaxed" education standards. And as with previous years, the relevant minister promised a full investigation.., as if that helps. Simple example, a student being educated in a "second" language gets "bonus" points at the end of the year. This obviously helps a lot of these students to pass.
Now the universities have shocked the nation. In spite of a (current at time of writing) hostage situation at one of our universities, all these institutions insist on taking in "under qualified" students, which are mostly from the previously disadvantaged (aaaagh) communities claiming they prefer pupils with "life skills". It's one thing trying to set the record straight, it's total hogwash to outright reject straight A students especially when they're white and male! The Sunday Times reports specifically on the University of Cape Town Health Sciences faculty. Three quarters of available space has been allocated to black students. A white girl from Gauteng with seven distinctions (all above 85%) got turned down by UCT.
Wits had some 3000 applicants with only 100 new places. They balanced their intake with a nice 50 / 50 black and white students. Now I don't have major issues with this. Our population consists mostly of black people and more black doctors (qualified black doctors) will do this country only good. What gets me is that government cannot support these students during their studies - here I'm talking finances. As with the current situation in the Vaal Triangle, a group of students have invaded the university and taken some people "hostage". Reason? They cannot afford to stay on and the university cannot afford to keep non-paying students! That's where I blame government.
The ANC government has been milking it's people since 1994, they spent major money on the arms deal, they're erecting more and more toll booths on existing roads, they neglect the miles of existing roads, they buy Mbeki a jet worth millions (name the countries where the president has his own private jet), they live the rich life and proclaim that they are building this country! Utter bull! They did some good by providing water to millions of people, by building houses (that mostly fell to pieces after the first year) and renaming areas, cities and streets (we live in Africa after all), by putting programs in place to vanquish inequalities between sexes and race (one works, the other is highly debatable). But care for the people? Only as far as visibility is concerned. Someone has to foot the bill, and it's the same people that suffer in the end.
I sincerely hope that most of these students have the resources to educate themselves outside of this country's borders. South African scientists are amongst the best in the world, but they're a dying breed. Maybe it's a good thing for white South Africans to "make it" on their own. We know that government only needs our money. But hopefully they'll learn to apply this money properly with a sustainable long term plan in order to really help those who are in need.
