Race is on for university places

The University of KwaZulu-Natal got about 65 000 applications for more than 9 500 first-year places available and Wits University had 32 000 applications for 5 500.

The University of Johannesburg received 50 000 applications for 13 000 first-year spaces available next year. This is a glimpse into the uphill battle that awaits this year’s matriculants hoping to get into university next year.

Rightly or wrongly, many matriculants and their parents see acceptance into one of the country’s 23 universities as the only viable option for further education and training.

Figures of pupils flocking to universities bear this out.

“Students must accept it’s a competitive dog-eat-dog world,” says education analyst Graeme Bloch.

The problem of a majority of the pupils being left out in the cold because of limited space ties in with the high unemployment rates and is prevalent in other countries as well, even those with better access to universities and more numbers of qualified people than South Africa, he says.

“It’s a tough and sad situation. Grade 12s must do as well as they can in their final exams.”

Bloch says those who don’t make it into universities will likely go to further education and training (FET) colleges or try applying for jobs.

“Some FET colleges are good, some aren’t. To be honest, most aren’t, but we must avoid the rhetoric – it’s going to take time for the FET colleges to be able to compete with universities.

“There’s no easy way… people must just keep trying to get in further education institutions and try to create jobs for themselves.”

The two new universities that are set to be built in Northern Cape and Mpumalanga will help to ease the burden, but South Africa needs at least six new universities to cater to the demand, Bloch says.

He also urges the business sector to be more accommodating by providing young people with internship and training opportunities.

“Businesses should do a lot more than they’re doing now and stop blaming the state of education. They must do their part.”

In an attempt to find placement in further education and training programmes for students who haven’t been accepted at higher education institutions for next year, the Department of Higher Education and Training has set up a central applications system.

This system will manage late applications to all post-school education and training institutions, including universities, colleges, sector education and training authority learnerships and internships in public and private sector organisations.

At a media briefing the Department of Higher Education and Training held recently regarding its preparations for processing late applications by prospective students, Minister Blade Nzimande announced that the central applications system will facilitate and manage student enrolments at higher education and training institutions.

“For the matric learners looking for admission into higher education and training institutions in 2013, the department will only be able to provide phase one of the central applications system, which will be referred to as the Clearing House.

“This initial phase has been developed to ensure that applications are better managed than in the past and the number of walk-ins is decreased,” he said.

Walk-ins are when matriculants, after receiving their exam results and realising that they qualify to apply at university, apply in January when institutions reopen.

The high number of walk-ins is what led to the University of Johannesburg stampede earlier this year that killed Gloria Sekwena, 47, who was there to help her son, Kgositsile, apply.

Nzimande said the Clearing House would support and guide matriculants who qualified for higher education but hadn’t been accepted at any institution.

The Clearing House will be supported by a website portal, the Career Advice call toll-free centre (0860 111 673), and an SMS line (072 204 5056), which will also accept Please Call Me requests.

“[The Clearing House] will provide electronic information to channel applications to places that are still available within the higher education and training institutions, while at the same time informing institutions of possible applicants that fulfil those institutions’ minimum admission requirements,” said Nzimande.

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University first-year applications by numbers:

University of KZN

Received 65 000 applications for about 9 500 spaces.

The applications process will remain open until all the available spaces have been filled.

The most popular programmes are education, social work and health sciences.

Durban University of Technology

Received 56 690 applications for 6 473 spaces.

Application closed on September 30.

The most popular programmes include education, journalism, nursing, human resources, emergency medical care, dental technology, public relations and information technology.

University of Johannesburg

Received 50 000 applications for 13 000 spaces.

For many of the academic programmes offered, applications will close on the last Friday of October (the 26th), but the university will accept applications until November 30.

The most popular programmes that first-years are applying for are the teacher education programmes, law, mining engineering, social work, public relations and marketing.

Wits University

Anticipates a total of 32 000 applications by the end of the year, but has space for only 5 500 first-years.

For some programmes, applications closed at the end of June.

Others closed on August 31, but the university is accepting late applications for certain programmes.

These include bachelors of fine arts, music and drama, some programmes in the faculties of science and engineering and the built environment.

Commerce, engineering and health sciences degrees are receiving most of the applications.

Tshwane University of Technology

Received 54 794 applications for 14 811 spaces.

Applications closed on August 15, but if there’s still space for a particular course late applications will be accepted.

Programmes that still have space include water care, industrial physics, entrepreneurship and recreation management.

The most popular courses are national diplomas for civil, electrical and mechanical engineering; architecture; logistics; economic management analysis; human resources management; tourism; biomedical technology; nursing; and municipal and traffic policing.

University of Pretoria

Received 34 000 applications for 16 000 spaces.

The closing date for all applications was September 30.

The most popular programmes are in the faculties of humanities, engineering, economic and business management sciences and natural sciences.

Cape Town (UCT)

Received 25 000 applications for about 4 200 spaces. Applications closed on September 30.

The university said the demand for its programmes was spread across all faculties and closely correlated with national socio-economic and professional trends.