Matric results 2011: Engineering candidates limited

“This world will never find a time where it does not need engineering services to function” – Aprille Ericsson

The 70.2% matric pass rate for 2011 was largely welcomed as an improvement from 67.8% in 2010.  However, some parties were quick to voice their concern over the quality of schooling that produced the matric results. The rising matric pass rate comes against the backdrop of publicly acknowledged problems in the schooling system as a whole.

For example, the dean of the Centre for Higher Education Development, at the University of Cape Town, explains how six million learners on primary school level were assessed in terms of their language and mathematics ability.  Only 31% reached the adequate level of performance – one indication that, even though the matric pass rates have risen in the past two years, limited evidence exists of a real rise in schooling achievement overall.

Not enough matriculants with engineering-focused subjects

Couple this with the fact that students who choose to take maths literacy, instead of mathematics, won’t be eligible to pursue many professional careers in higher education that require maths.  This is why Ecsa (the Engineering Council of South Africa) is worried.  And rightly so.

The council has warned that South Africa is not producing an adequate number of matriculants with the desired results in subjects required for admission to engineering programmes – including mathematics, English and physical science.  They’re also concerned that, even though some learners achieve above-average results, they aren’t adequately prepared to cope and perform on the same standard within a university setting.

Engineering students don’t graduate

Ecsa professor Thokozani Majozi said that the tertiary engineering study programmes are oversubscribed every year, but only about a quarter of these enrolled students graduate within the prescribed four years.  This is a major concern for South Africa, especially since the Department of Higher Education and Training have set a target of 15 000 engineering graduates by 2014. Majozi pointed out that the private sector has more than 800 000 vacancies in management, engineering, law, finance, accounting and medicine.

Engineering graduates leave the country

I’ve painted quite a grey picture, and I’m afraid it’s about to get darker.  Crystal Du Toit, Business Development Manager at Network Recruitment, explains how many an engineer is looking for green pastures up in Africa, and even more in other continents.  They get compensated well above-average of what they can expect from an engineering job in South Africa.  This means that young, graduated engineers – those who actually make it through the tertiary system – are leaving as soon as they have hatched.

Action plans

With all of this said, it is good to know that Ecsa is undertaking a project to lobby tertiary institutions to implement a uniform engineering curriculum of best practice.  A research campaign, the results of which would aid in understanding the challenges regarding tertiary institutions achieving higher pass rates in Engineering Bachelor’s degrees, is in process.  Also, Ecsa proposed that the SA government consider establishing engineering faculties at universities that currently do not offer such programmes.  The country is waiting with bated breath…this is one industry that we can’t afford to let crumble to the ground.