Johannesburg - There’s bad news for the class of 2014. Even some of the brightest might not get into two of the country’s top universities.
Only about 10 percent of applicants to Joburg’s two universities, the University of the Witwatersrand and University of Johannesburg, have been accepted for the year.
Wits vice-chancellor and principal Adam Habib said something had to be done to address the lack of higher education facilities as the number of pupils who qualified for higher education had doubled in the past 20 years from 420 000 to 900 000.
University figures show there were 51 000 applications to Wits with only 6 500 available places and 111 200 applications to UJ with only 10 500 places.
“The country needs to address the problems facing the higher education system,” said Habib on Wednesday morning.
“We need diversification of the system, new universities, FET colleges and others; we need to expand the capacity of higher education.
“There has to be post-secondary education such as technikons and artisan training colleges; colleges that focus on vocational training for teachers and nurses; as well as comprehensive universities that have a strong focus on undergraduate studies.”
South Africa had 25 universities, but more were needed, he said.
The US has between 5 000 and 6 000 universities.
Habib said while student numbers had expanded, the number of academics had stayed more or less the same.
“We must invest and grow the number of academics needed in higher education and uphold the quality of academic teaching,” he said.
He also said because about 50 percent of pupils dropped out before they finished matric, higher education training should focus on investing in students when they were in the system.
Habib said the number of places available as opposed to the number of applications was a national issue and not unique to Wits.
“The discussion on the number of places available at universities is part of a broader question around access to further education.
“It is crucial for the profile of FET colleges to be raised as they play a significant role in allowing students options for further study.
“Not all students who matriculate are ‘university material’ and not all students necessarily want to go to university,” he said.
Wits does not take walk-ins, and there is no guarantee of places for applicants even if they meet the admission criteria.
“Prospective students apply in advance. For the top students, the university offers places provisionally pending their results; for others, places are offered once the results come out.”
UJ has also stated that it will not allow walk-ins following the tragedy in January 2012 when one person died and 17 were trampled in a stampede by students to gain access to the university for late registration.
Here too, fewer than one in 10 applicants will get a place.
Student applications increased from 72 000 last year to over 111 200 this year.
Professor Kinta Burger, the UJ registrar, said the number of places available - 10 500 - was in accordance with the formal enrolment plan approved by the Department of Higher Education and Training.
All enquiries regarding late applications, space availability or the change from one programme to another will be dealt with on the UJ website via UJ’s late enquiry system or UJ’s call centre at 011 559 4555, which will be available from January 9 to 13.
All applicants will receive an SMS during this time, which will confirm their final application status.
If applicants have not received an SMS from UJ by Friday, they must visit the UJ website (www.uj.ac.za) to verify their application status.
The University of South Africa (Unisa) has also shut down walk-in applications.
Spokesman Martin Ramotshela said prospective students had to apply before September 30 on their provisional results before they could register.
“If they have not applied, they cannot now register. Our centres are up and running and geared to deal with the number of expected registrations,” he said.
Unisa has about 400 000 students registered in any given year.
The Star