Thirty years of democracy: DVC Linda Ronnie talks importance of post-school education

On 27 April 1994 millions of South Africans cast their ballot in the country’s first democratic election – ushering in a new dawn with the birth of the rainbow nation.

Worryingly, 30 years into a democratic dispensation and approximately 59% of South Africa’s youth are unemployed, not enrolled in a form of education or training at higher education institutions or TVET colleges.

On the eve of Freedom Day, celebrated annually on 27 April, and building up to the country’s seventh general election on 29 May, the University of Cape Town (UCT) hosted Cape Talk breakfast for a morning of discussion and debate on how to move South Africa forward. UCT’s upper campus served as the perfect location, considering the role the institution plays in producing young graduates in a multitude of fields, who come to university to attain a degree, grow the country’s skilled workforce and make a difference in their lives and those of their families.

Before talk host Lester Kiewit’s panel discussion, which included input from several political parties, including the Inkatha Freedom Party and the newly founded Rise Mzansi, he spoke to UCT’s Emerita Professor Linda Ronnie, the acting deputy vice-chancellor for Teaching and Learning. Their discussion touched on the important role universities and colleges play with preparing young South Africans for the world of work and to be active participants in society, as well as some lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic.  

“The transformative potential of the post-school sector is absolutely critical. We know that your employment chances improve once you [attain] a post-school qualification and I think that’s why there’s been such an uptake from young people in trying to get into universities in particular,” Emerita Professor Ronnie said.

A record number

This year alone UCT received a record number of more than 100 000 applications from would-be students interested in pursuing undergraduate study at the university. This, Ronnie said, demonstrates that young people understand the importance of post-school education to improve the trajectory of their lives.

And while tertiary institutions play a fundamental role with molding young people for the real world, Ronnie said this preparation starts at school level and stretches as far back as early childhood development (ECD) centres. It’s for this reason that she urged government to make the ECD sector a focal point and provide additional funding to adequately nurture children from a young age, in preparation for what’s to come as they get older. 

“I think [currently] we are attending to the end of the pipeline rather than the beginning, and for me, the start is where it all happens. Why are we still getting [students from] a very particular socio-economic [background] who gets into higher education? It’s because we’re not supporting all our young learners throughout the phases of education,” she said.

Lessons from the pandemic   

Turning their focus to UCT’s teaching and learning project and how the university managed to keep going despite significant setbacks like the COVID-19 pandemic, Ronnie said the institution was forced to respond swiftly. And it did. She said adopting an effective digital learning approach has been one of the biggest lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic. It forced both students and staff out of their comfort zones because it meant they were required to embrace a new way of learning and doing, with very little time for practice.

“We have young people who are completely au fait with technology, and teaching in a way that combines [that with their] learning and where they are going, that’s critical.”  

“Our current facilities in terms of provision of digital technologies and improving digital literacy [are good], not only for students but for our staff as well – a significant portion of whom had to learn how to use all these [platforms] in a very short period of time under some interesting home settings,” she said.

As a result, and thanks to its positive outcome, digital learning remains a part of UCT’s teaching and learning methodology. Post-pandemic, Ronnie said, the university has moved towards using a blended learning approach, which, she added, is absolutely critical to keep up with the modern tech-driven world.

“We have young people who are completely au fait [familiar with] technology, and teaching in a way that combines [that with their] learning and where they are going, that’s critical,” she said.