South African Unis "racially skewed"

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by Kizmet, Aug 24, 2013.

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  1. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

  2. ebbwvale

    ebbwvale Member

    The real danger in commenting on reports like this is ethnocentrism. It is hard to know what is happening in South Africa unless you are living there. We tend to see things through our own "lens".

    In Australia, there is a disparity in the university demographics. I do not have our latest graduations statistics, however, a number of years ago it was found that low interest loans provided by the government did not change the demographics of university education. It was still more likely that if you went to a private upmarket high school you would be vastly more likely to graduate from a university than if you came from a lower socioeconomic background.

    The value the family placed upon education was as critical as the quality of the high school education. Family members, particularly parents, that had a university education and had a familial value on it was a significant factor. Families that thought it out of reach and/or largely irrelevant to their idea of the "good" had a detrimental effect on the pursuit of the degree. It is getting increasingly hard to argue that the degree is the pathway to all that used to be promised by its completion. Degree holders are still on the lists of the unemployed.

    It may be interesting in South Africa to see if these factors are significant in the completion of the degree there. Perhaps too often it is seen that the educational process bears all the blame, but, as said earlier, South African issues need examination through a South African "lens". There are so many variables in each country.
     

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