Centralised university applications coming

Aspiring students who have been rejected may use it to apply for places in other institutions for next year, the minister said.

The final phase of the system, which is aimed at improving management of last-minute applications, would be completed in 2014. Once in full operation the system would enable students to apply for admission, for financial aid and for accommodation in a single application. Prospective students would pay one application fee and have one place to check on the status of all their applications.

Limited spaces at universities and a last-minute rush this year led to one person being killed and 22 being injured at a stampede at the University of Johannesburg (UJ), where about 14,000 applicants had gathered.

Last year, university enrolment totalled 899,120 (a 16% participation rate of those aged 18-24). The Department of Education plans to double the number of places in universities by 2030 to meet the growing demand for education.

Speaking at a briefing last week, Nzimande said from next year "a clearing house" would be put in place that would better manage "walk-ins" through an electronic system that allowed for multiple applications and better communication with applicants.

The first phase caters only for students whose matric results qualify for entrance to an institution but who had not previously applied, as well as for those who were not accepted at the institutions they applied to and seek placement elsewhere.

A centralised admissions process is operating in KwaZulu-Natal.

A nationwide admissions system has been backed in many quarters, including by UJ vice-chancellor Prof Ihron Rensburg who said, after the stampede, that a system that improved applications without disrupting registrations should be welcomed.

The Council for Higher Education (CHE) has also welcomed the idea of centralised applications, but has recommended "a framework be used that considered the right of institutions to determine who is admitted".

The centralised application system is also used in countries such the UK.

CHE's chief executive Ahmed Essop said while similar systems in other countries were more "narrowly focused" on applications, any inclusion of financial aid and accommodation for South Africa's system should be welcomed.

Essop said KwaZulu-Natal's system had taken four or five years before it was entrenched and the national system would likely take longer. But, if properly phased in and properly managed, the benefits would show immediately, he said.

Nzimande said universities would still have the final say on who they admit. This would extend to last-minute placements where institutions will use the system to select students if it still has places available.

The department has been running a campaign since April to provide career guidance to pupils who may not have access to such guidance at their schools.

Source: Business Day