Universities’ ‘slow pace of expansion’ blamed for lack of capacity
The matric hangover has started for tens of thousands of students who have passed and want to go to university but cannot because there are no places available. That is because of the slow pace of expansion at universities‚ says Nic Spaull‚ an education researcher at the University of Stellenbosch. Lack of capacity is illustrated by the gulf between the number of places universities can offer and the number of students wanting to enrol. • The University of KwaZulu-Natal received about 89,700 first-year applications for 8,700 places; • The University of Witwatersrand (Wits) received more than 70,000 applications for 6,200 places; • The University of the Western Cape (UWC) received 30,000 applications for 4,500 places; • The University of Fort Hare received 32,602 applications for 5,542 places; and • The University of Cape Town (UCT) received 26,416 applications for 4,200 places. "More and more students are qualifying with bachelor passes over the past five years and yet the universit...
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