The Weekly Edtorial

For far too long, we have watched as a province the cost of inadequate or lack of education over one’s lifetime running into millions of rands in lost wages, increased entitlements and criminal justice spending.

And not only has poor education cost us jobs and growth, above all, the dreams and aspirations of too many young people ignored by an economy increasingly built on knowledge –not hands — have been shattered.

What exacerbates the whole miserable scenario is the reality that most of those young people do not merely choose to drop out of school or not to proceed to attain tertiary qualifications.
Neither will their grades be too poor to earn them university or college places.

They are, sadly, just too poor to fund their own further education.

Yet it’s not a totally hopeless situation, as Premier Ace Magashule and his Free State administration have been proving.

Determined to ensure all citizens have equal access to institutions of higher learning, the provincial government has made a massive investment in bursary funding over the past few years.

Thanks to this foresightedness by provincial government, there are currently more than 6 000 studying in the country and abroad on bursaries fully-funded by the government.

The beneficiaries include 212 medical students sent to Cuba, with another 27 studying medicine, civil engineering and international trade in Turkey.

The provincial government is also funding 277 students in China, among the many youngsters it has sent abroad to acquire skills that will not only benefit the Fee State but South Africa at large.

Above all this, the Free State government has further shown its commitment to education by building several new schools, classrooms and libraries as well as making huge investments in the early childhood development area.

We applaud Magashule and his administration for their noble efforts. Education spending is investment in the future.

Of course, we are well aware good education or university degrees will not guarantee us jobs or a prosperous economy.

As one might expect, no person – no matter how well-educated – can be totally immune from the effects of an economic downturn.

Yet the importance of having a higher level of education for the economy, for the labour market and for the society as a whole can never be underestimated.
It remains just the beginning of it all.

While Magashule’s government is doing a sterling job in preparing students for the job market, this is only half the battle.

Getting all those bursary beneficiaries and many others after they graduate to stay in the Free State to create businesses or work at established companies or in the public sector is the other crucial half.

We have seen thousands of students – including a good number of those who are educated using government bursaries – shunning the province apparently for its lack of opportunities.

Others are discouraged by low pay and poor living conditions. The powers-that-be should not brush aside this reality, but find in it an incentive to improve not only the province’s job market but its economy and living conditions too.

We wouldn’t want to see all the graduates that this province is churning out leaving instead of playing a key part in turning around our economic fortunes.

It is therefore critical for the government to look at and address issues stifling job creation or making the Free State uncompetitive – either in public or private sectors – compared to South Africa’s other provinces.

We have however pleasingly noted the provincial government is aware this is a challenge that needs to be tackled head-on.

In his state of the province address in March, Magashule announced a raft of projects and programmes that will create thousands of job opportunities.

While more and more health professionals, for example, will be hired, roads and other construction projects will definitely create business and employment opportunities for locals.

But our leaders must go even further.

They must look into what is deterring more companies from investing in the Free State or what is inhibiting current businesses from wanting to expand.

Is it the market? Is it the regulations?

Whatever it is, we believe our provincial government is capable – like it has shown in education – of committing to addressing the business and job market challenges and turning around the situation.

The Free State government’s massive investment in people, their skills and their education – key for the success of the province’s economy and its citizens – cannot be put to waste.