Apply Now Campaign rolled out to E Cape schools

Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Training, Mduduzi Manana, has taken the 2016 Apply Now/Khetha Career Guidance Campaign to three schools in Lady Frere, in the Eastern Cape.

The Apply Now/Khetha Career Guidance Campaign is aimed at encouraging learners to apply on time for admission to tertiary institutions and prevent the long admissions queues that take place at the beginning of each academic year.

The campaign also seeks to inform learners about the career choices available within the Post-School Education and Training (PSET) sector.

The campaign runs from March to September across the country to help learners to make informed choices when applying to institutions of higher learning.

Learners are also informed about things to look out for when choosing their institutions of higher learning to avoid being conned into registering at bogus colleges that offer them unaccredited qualifications.

The Deputy Minister, who was accompanied by Mayor of eMalahleni Local Municipality Nomveliso Nyukwana, interacted with Grade 8 to 12 learners at Echibini Senior Secondary School, Nzimankulu Senior Secondary School and Mtirara Senior Secondary School.

“The best thing you can do this year as a Grade 12 learner is to start applying now for consideration in the institutions for higher learning for the 2017 academic calendar. You cannot be found wanting come January 2017,” Deputy Minister Manana told learners.

TVET Colleges

The Deputy Minister encouraged learners to consider Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Colleges as an alternative to university education because the skills needs of the country demanded massive production of artisans from TVET colleges.

“This is by no means saying university education is not important, but we need more learners in the TVET system. Universities play a critical role in the production of knowledge,” he said.

100 Occupations in High Demand

The Deputy Minister also had a conversation with more than 2 000 learners from Grade 8 to 12 in the rural schools of Bergville and promoted the “100 Occupations in High Demand” list.

The list was released in 2014 by Higher Education and Training Minister, Blade Nzimande.

The Deputy Minister handed over charts of the list of occupations to the school principals of the three schools.

Learners were also informed about the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), which is aimed at assisting poor and academically deserving students to further their studies within the post-school sector.

NSFAS has to date helped more than
1.5 million beneficiaries, who have since joined the ranks of the black middle class.