Deputy Minister Mduduzi Manana: Launch of 'Apply Now' campaign

It is a great honour for me to be part of this media launch of the Apply Now at this august occasion held at the gate where one of the parents, Ms Gloria Sekwena tragically died. This annual event comes at a time when the education system is experiencing increasing pressure to improve the coordination of the post school education and training system in this country.

The proactive nature of this initiative should be understood within the context of the legacy of the past that resulted in a large number of school leavers not accessing the post-school learning in their lives.

Programme Director, let me first give a brief background on the Apply Now! Campaign. The Apply Now! Campaign was launched in 2012 in response to the increased number of learners that pass Matric annually and have not applied for university programmes in time to meet the deadlines for applications.

This leads to students that were not able to study a programme that they were interested in and a huge number of walk-in applicants forming long queues at universities at the beginning of each year without being accommodated at the institutions. 

The tragedy that marked late application walk-ins at this very University in 2012 highlighted the desperation of tens of thousands of young people in South Africa yearning for quality education. Today we make a vivid collection when masses of late applicants to the University of Johannesburg (UJ) lined up outside the University’s Bunting Road Campus in the hope of getting a place to study and better their and their community’s lives.

It took the tragic death of a mother and UJ Alumna, Ms Gloria Sekwena, to highlight to South Africa, the dire need for accessibility in the Higher Education sector.

To honour the memory of Ms Sekwena, and what her death symbolises, the University officially opened the Gloria Sekwena Gate at this Bunting Road Campus of the UJ on Thursday, 3 April 2014. The name takes on a new meaning for millions who will pass through this gate as they will ask who Gloria Sekwena is, and they will learn about hope and pain and the sacrifice made for them to be here.

 Ms Sekwena tragically died trying to get her child into university and that should not happen again, this incident haunts us till this day. In 2012 I received a call from the President, he was concerned about the admission challenges within the higher education institutions.  He wanted to lend a hand in addressing student admission as this tragedy was not only for the Department but for the country as a whole. I listened to the President’s advice attentively, and am happy to announce that we have mitigated the challenges of walk-ins.

The incident urged the Department of Higher Education and Training to support universities to create awareness of career options, study opportunities and application procedures at the different post-school education and training institutions.

The campaign therefore seeks to provide you, the learner with critical information on post school education and training options, qualifications and funding and highlights the importance of applying in time to any of the post-school education and training institution of their choice and for the programmes you are interested in.

A multi-channel information, advice, guidance and communication strategy is in place to support the implementation of the campaign, including a media campaign to raise broad awareness of the importance of applying early. An Apply Now! Booklet (showing off the booklet) is developed and distributed to all Grade 12 learners in high schools across the country. The booklet is developed in collaboration with the Department of Basic Education. The first edition was printed in 2012.

Last year Apply Now! booklets were directly distributed to 6 812 public secondary and combined schools in the country with the aim of distributing the booklets to every grade 12 learner in the country. These booklets are accompanied by an instruction note to help teachers mediate the booklets with learners.  Follow up calls are made to sampled school to confirm delivery and distribution among learners.

Secondly Programme Director, the Department has invested in a radio programme. The Khetha Radio Programme further hosts Apply Now! topics and messages. These programmes run weekly in 10 African languages including Afrikaans.

Since its launch in 2012, the campaign has hosted numerous information dissemination outreach projects targeting deep rural areas and township schools, in particular. Our belief is that career guidance should be in the centre of career development. The Apply Now is two pronged, career guidance and Apply Now, complementing each other.

Career Development

But the question remains, how do you, sitting here in front of me, and everyone outside this venue, know where to go for further studies, what to study and what career path to follow.  Perhaps let me now move to outlining the importance of career development within the education and training sector and the country’s economy.

I have deliberately used the term ‘career development’ because we have a greater task than only providing career guidance.  There is a paradigm adjustment indicating a shift from career guidance interventions at key points in a person’s life to a lifelong information, guidance, advice and support perspective.

Further developments in this regard are a move from a psychological to a pedagogical approach (from testing to tasting the world of work) and from external support to career self-management skills. It is therefore have to not only expose individuals to available career opportunities, but also help our youth with greater self-awareness and self-worth. 

Of course this will take the form of identification of your own personal attributes and the relationship between such attributes and the skills required to be effective in different life and work situations. Career development also assists in identifying the individual in relation to a range of career related options.

We cannot decide what we are going to do with our lives and which career to choose on how we feel, or what our friends are choosing, or what our interests are. The decision has to be based on accurate, organised, verifiable, accessible and useful information. 

Therefore young people need to know where to find such information. The Department of Higher Education and Training now offers a range of services that add so much value to not only the post-secondary education and training system, but also directly benefiting all citizens.  These services include:

• Providing information, advice and guidance to individuals to make informed career choices
• Providing foundational career management skills to career development practitioners, teachers and lecturers
• Helping to develop career plans for those who need them
• Providing access to information on learning and career paths within the post-secondary education and training system
• Assisting in coping mechanisms related to personal career development and changing working conditions
• Promoting learning, working and training opportunities; and lastly
• Knowing where and how to access career development services throughout their lives.

Student Financial Aid

Programme director, to build new facilities is not enough. Too many individuals are excluded from further studies due to financial barriers. It is the view of this government that no academically deserving student should be excluded from education and training opportunities due to lack of funding. 

This policy position is supported by the National Students Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) which government introduced a few years ago. It is intended to open opportunities for further study in higher education and to provide the necessary additional teaching and learning (curriculum) support for students to overcome any barriers to learning.

In order for learners to access this funding they should apply to institutions of higher learning first, and then, once accepted into a study programme, apply for funding. Students and learners let me repeat, in order for learners to access this funding they should apply to institutions of higher learning first, and then, once accepted into a study programme, apply for funding.

There is a need to apply but equally you should apply for funding well on time. We don’t want a situation where you do not apply based on not knowing who will fund your studies. We experience such reasoning in the disadvantaged communities, rural and township schools in particular, where learners do not apply though they are doing well academically thinking there is no use of applying as they will not have funding.

Our Government has plans in place to support such learners. I am urging all the learners to apply regardless of economic conditions.

Therefore, there can be no financial reason for students not to access education and training.  I want to emphasise this point because I firmly believe that education is one of the tools by which we can break the cycle of poverty, inequality and unemployment and we in government will make every effort to assist individuals to reach their goals. Learners need to start applying on time for both acceptance into the system and for funding.

Apply Now! Apply Now! Apply Now! - January is too late, start applying now for next year.

Outline 2015 High School Visits

We will be visiting provinces to roll-out the Apply Now Campaign. We have targeted rural schools nationally, this is due to lack of information and reach of these communities. Following are the provinces and schools the Department will visit:

As you know the closing date for applying in higher education institutions is September, hence the school visits campaign starts in April and ends in September to coincide with the registration closure. Many of your peers did not apply on time and end up going to anything available including bogus colleges.

We want to plead with you, to verify the information with the department. The department has the list of all legitimate public and private institutions. Many of our young people fall into this trap because they do not apply on time. I am sending a strong message to the bogus institutions, the Department is working with Law Enforcements to mitigate our learners and parents falling into this trap.

Conclusion 

I raised this idea of honouring Ms Sekwena in 2012. I am glad that the University heeded the call and have officially named the gate after her, in her memory. Let us give the UJ a round of applause. Thank you.  The sad circumstances that happened in 2012 marked a point in our history where we as a department had to take responsibility for helping students to apply in time.  

I also want to urge the learners that are here today to make use of the Career Development Services that the department offers in assisting them with shaping their futures. The new number to call for any Career Development advice, guidance and information is 086 999 0123. We have qualified career advisors on the other end waiting to assist you at no cost at all. Use other means like ‘please call me’ and SMSs too. We are there to help you.

I therefore officially launch the 2015 Apply Now Campaign.

Apply Now Apply Now Apply Now!

I thank you!