Johannesburg — Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Nhastshavheni, has called for education to be made accessible to all and that government has been trying to get more people in education in South Africa.
Ntshavheni, who was delivering the OR Tambo Annual Memorial Lecture at Unisa on Friday, said universities can do more to broaden access to higher education, IOL reported.
She said education can produce more inventors, scientists and experts in other sectors in South Africa and the rest of the continent but said there were things that needed to be done to get people greater access to higher education.
“The first is investing in education. Access to education is a cornerstone of intellectual progress. We must prioritise education from early childhood to higher learning, ensuring that every African child has the opportunity to realise their potential,” she said.
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Ntshavheni added that there were 16.4 million children in early childhood learning, but 5.3 million children not involved in any sort of organised education, something the government was looking to address.
“Today I would have been proud to report to president OR Tambo that 30 years later, the number of children with no access to education has declined to just 6.9%; the number of children completing Grade 12 has increased to 37.6% from a mere 16% in 1996. Post-school graduates have grown to 12.2%,” Ntshavheni said.
The growing population in the country would need more young people to study to contribute to the economy.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
