SOUTH AFRICA: University hopefuls out in the cold

About 22,000 more South African school leavers achieved university entrance passes in 2008 than in the previous year, but many cannot be absorbed into an over-taxed tertiary education system, reports the Mail & Guardian.

A 26% rise in university 'exemptions' - from 85,000 in 2007 to 107,000 last year - was achieved despite a drop in the overall pass rate for the new National Senior Certificate from 65% to 62.5%.

"The system cannot accommodate all these students this year," said Theuns Eloff, chair of the vice-chancellors' association, Higher Education South Africa. Eloff said the education department had earmarked R3.2-billion for spending on infrastructure and graduate outputs, allowing a number of universities to grow in terms of class size. But building would only start next year.
Full report on the Mail & Guardian site