Education is not valued in South Africa. Graduates with diplomas, junior degrees and post-graduate qualifications are unemployed.
Some of the graduates’ studies were financed by the government but it is not employing them. In other words, the government is not getting value for the money spent.
In our country, you have to be connected to get a job. You also have to be a comrade to get a better position, irrespective of your competency or qualification/s. Some managers in government departments have only matric. It is what it is.
That said, many people are asking how convicted criminal Thabo Bester managed to accumulate billions while having only a Standard 5. The world tends to judge the IQ of a person based on their education level. That’s a big mistake.
Former president Jacob Zuma went up to Standard 4. But he managed to rise within the ranks of the ANC and became the first citizen of the country. It is through informal education that he was empowered to lead. Whether he was a good or bad president is another matter.
Nothing much is being said about former president Kgalema Motlanthe’s education level. It seems Motlanthe has matric but he is intelligent, wise and diplomatic. He is also the ex-president of the country, thanks to informal education.
Bill Gates is a university drop-out. Yet Gates is one of the richest people in the world. He invented Microsoft Office and made a killing out of it. Would he be wealthy if he had pursued his university studies?
There are many people who lack formal education but have made it in life. Interestingly, the uneducated but successful individuals have employed professionals to help them achieve their vision in business and other areas.
This shows that informal education is equally important. Yet many people, including those who don’t have money to pursue formal education, disregard it. They are committing an error of judgment and should change their minds about it.
Bester might have left school at Standard 5 but he is not a fool. In fact, he has proved to be more clever than the educated. Pity he has chosen to use his fine mind to engage in criminal activities. His upbringing has contributed largely to that, I suppose.
I’m not in anyway discouraging our children from going to school. Not at all. I urge them to further their studies, if they can.
Education is important. And for those who are unable to go to school, let them engage in informal education, which is accessible and valuable.
* Thabile Mange, Mogale City.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.
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