The education of youth remains of paramount
importance, despite changes in the economic landscape. Earlier this year the
then Minister of Finance, Pravin Gordhan, announced that 20% of the country’s
budget would be allocated to education, which is a whopping R254 billion. While
this represents the lion’s share of the 2014 Budget, the key is what we do with
these resources.
Family budgets are taking strain and with job
losses leading to further income disparities, the biggest impact is on women (often
the primary or only caregivers to young children).
The
impact of the global economic slowdown on South African education remains multifaceted, with the gains in better
education and accessibility achieved in
the past having been adversely affected .
This means that it will probably take the
country longer than expected to achieve the United Nations millennial goals and
as a matter of urgency, we need to move closer to these pre-determined goals.
School
enrolment has been negatively affected due to an increase in poverty levels. If
they do manage to get them there, children often go to school hungry and this has
devastating impact on their cognitive abilities.
Free education would help alleviate
poverty, but it is not yet an option – South Africa does not have a bottomless
pit of funds to cover expenses for all. Even in Botswana, where education beyond
O-levels is free, the government is reviewing what they can effectively afford
to offer learners in terms of education finance. They have opted for a
different approach by making university entrance stringent, thus limiting the
numbers.
Eduloan, South Africa’s leading education
finance provider, plays a major role by providing study finance to prospective
students and their parents , thus unlocking potential to those who may not qualify for loans from other financial
institutions. To ensure that the funds borrowed are not going to waste, Eduloan
makes use of direct salary deductions via the employers of the borrowers,
ensuring that loans are settled according to agreement . Study loans are transferred directly to the
academic institutions, and not the students, mitigating risk to the company.
In South Africa, while we work to better
our communities and the nation at large, we need to give attention to what can
be done to assist our children to fare better in subjects like mathematics and
science. A good understanding and insight in mathematics is crucial – it
teaches pupils not just basic arithmetics, but helps them become logical
thinkers and problem solvers. Recent reports clearly indicated that South
Africa ranks very low in these subjects.
Teachers can start playing a more decisive
role in improving education. Ironically they are often buried under
administrative tasks, therefore minimising the time spent on imparting
knowledge in subjects such as
mathematics and science. Our teachers need to constantly familiarise themselves
with new technology and use innovative teaching methods to motivate learners.
Continuous research by teachers should be encouraged.
Together with Open Learning Holdings (OLH),
Eduloan has a whole range of solutions that provides schools the relevant tools
to streamline their tasks. For example, our Principle Primary Software, whereby
a school can buy an administrative system to help with all the administration
required by government. We also have an agreement with D6 Communicator who have
a programme,whereby teachers and schools can communicate with parents via the
internet regarding sports practice times, exam rosters and requirements for
academic progress.
The reality is that some schools just
cannot afford to acquire such solutions.
There are three more areas we need to focus
on in terms of improving the situation.
The first is to make sure that governments
actually spend the allocated funds on improving education for our children.
Secondly, we need to look at partnerships
with the developed world, where people can still provide support in terms of
aid or grants for those economies that are really poor.
The third aspect is for private sector institutions,
such as Eduloan, to come up with programmes that will educate people on
financial literacy, and secondly to provide innovative products to assist an
increasing number of South Africans.
Eduloan is a catalyst for changing lives
through education and has, since 1996, provided access to education finance to more
than 720,000 South Africans with more than R3,7 billion worth in study loans.
Eduloan caters for all levels of tuition and pioneered a bursary fund
management product called Eduxtras, to further assist students and bursars
alike in effectively budgeting and controlling spend on essential study
requirements, including tuition fees, books, accommodation and food.
By Totsie Memela, CEO: Eduloan
