The matriculants we are celebrating this week deserve our congratulations. Many have overcome significant odds and worked hard and diligently to get where they are today.
But when the celebrations die down, the hard truth awaiting these young people brimming with potential is that things don’t get easier from here on in. Many matriculants will struggle to find work in the next few years – youth unemployment in South Africa is already notoriously high – and less than half of successful matriculants will go on to study further.
The Class of 2024 recorded an 87,3% pass rate, up from 82,9% last year, but only 47,8% of them qualified for university entrance. In fact, research by the University of Stellenbosch’s Nic Spaull suggests that, on average, out of 100 children who start grade 1, just six will get some kind of qualification within six years of matric, and just four will complete a formal degree.
According to Jon Foster-Pedley, dean and director of Henley Business School Africa, it is critical that we change these odds if we want our children to reach their full potential. ‘Like it or not, future success is linked to further education, and we need a revolution in how we think about education and training to ensure that young South Africans can carry on making headway in a complexifying world,’ he says.
Success in a changing world demands new approaches to education
While getting a degree or a diploma is not the only route to success in life, studying further is correlated with productivity and economic growth, higher earning power, better social outcomes, and human happiness.
‘Research shows that whether you want to start your own business, join an NGO, follow your vocation, or become a corporate high flyer, your chances of success are higher the more education you have,’ says Foster-Pedley.
But – and here’s another reality check – studying is expensive and time-consuming, and good universities are hard to get into. Plus, the world of work is changing, and it is by no means clear that existing educational systems are up for the challenge.
Foster-Pedley points out that we live in a world that is dramatically different from the one for which most institutions of higher learning are geared to prepare their students. ‘There is real concern about the shelf life of many qualifications. Depending on the specialisation, it used to take between 15 to 20 years for skills learnt at university to become obsolete – today, that has perhaps been cut to between two and five years,’ he says.
‘It’s one of the reasons more young adults are pursuing non-traditional paths to gain the qualifications they need to get ahead. Traditional universities are great at training elites, but what we need in addition is a national movement of skilled and confident entrepreneurs and managers who are continuously learning and can drive innovation and get things done in business, society and government.’
This is the thinking behind Henley’s ‘ladder of learning’ of undergraduate and postgraduate business qualifications, starting with its new Henley Work Readiness Programme. This one-year accredited programme is designed as a flexible alternative to a traditional university degree or gap year. Its goal is to give young adults practical and relevant skills in a safe and fun environment while building their core confidence and allowing them to explore different career avenues.
Critically, the programme is accredited (at NQF level 5), so students graduate with a qualification that employers value and recognise. They can also go on to study further at Henley, working their way up the ladder of learning right up to Master’s level, or use the credit to support their application to a university specialisation that perhaps they didn’t qualify for the first time around.
The triple A of access, appropriateness and application
The Work Readiness Programme, like all Henley programmes, focuses on what Foster-Pedley calls the ‘triple-A of access, appropriateness and application’, the three elements that he believes are essential if we want to radically improve educational outcomes in South Africa.
‘First, we have to lower the barriers to access, which are primarily cost and time. One way to do this is to allow students to study while they continue to work and earn. Flexible and part-time study options are therefore critical,’ he explains. ‘We also need more corporates to step up to partner with education and training institutions to elevate the skill levels of their workforces, and we need to make more scholarships and funding opportunities available.’
‘Second, what we teach must be tailored to the context and needs of the workplace of the future, which is set to be defined by turbulence and uncertainty. Analytical and creative thinking, leadership skills, social influence and the ability to work with others, remain at the top of the skills needed, according to the World Economic Forum. This is also the reason that we’ve developed the Work Readiness Programme in consultation with employers. We asked them what they are looking for in new recruits, and they told us!’
‘How we teach is also important,’ he continues. ‘Design and teaching methods need to be progressive and combine action learning with academically proven and accredited pedagogy. At Henley, we are on the leading edge of integrating emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) into teaching and learning to help make intangible and abstract concepts more tangible. This, in turn, can help shift the conversation around technology from fear and uncertainty to one of possibility and excitement, helping to create adaptive and “anti-fragile” leaders who are equipped to take on future challenges.
‘Finally, we must make space for the application of what is being learnt. It is in this process of learning and applying, failing and trying again that people can start to build their resilience, wisdom and confidence, attributes that are vital in business as in life.’
All Henley programmes give students ample opportunity to try out what they are learning in the real world. What’s more, students on the Work Readiness Programme also have the option to sign up for extra online courses in skill areas that interest them through Henley’s online learning partners, gaining digital certificates as they go that they can display on their CVs and social media profiles.
More choices, more impact
Foster-Pedley says that all of this gives Henley graduates more choices after the programme ends, ‘including increasing their chances of getting into a top university if that is the path they want to follow.’
‘Navigating the transition from school to work is never easy,’ he concludes. ‘Today’s young people will ultimately determine the future of this country, and we need to do everything we can to support and accelerate their progress in the real world, with all its pitfalls and potential.
‘We need the young adults in our world to bring the full force of their youthful, innovative energy to building a better Africa and a better world.’
Henley Business School is the first international quadruple accredited business school in South Africa. For more information on Henley programmes and the Work Readiness Programme, go to: https://bit.ly/4gPXveU
DM