The future lies in your hands
- Wits University
Various tools measuring the status of South African households show a steady increase in the education levels of the country.
The education levels of the South African population, although gradually increasing, are still at low levels thus placing a big responsibility on those with degrees.
Economist, Professor Dori Posel, sketched out these figure to graduands at the morning graduation ceremony of the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management.
Quoting the 2001 Population Census, Posel said only about 8% of the adult population aged 20 years and older had completed post-secondary education. “In 2011 this had increased to 12% and according to a recently released Household Survey this had increased substantially.”
Posel appealed to the class of 2015, who had the privilege to attain a higher education qualification, to use their knowledge to steer the country forward.
“In 10 to 20 years, many of the people you see on this stage or in business or non-government offices would have resigned and you will have these positions. South Africa still has a very long road to travel to reduce inequality and poverty; build the economy and employment; further improve access to quality education and health care; increase accountability; and improve social redress generally.”
“The future lies in your hands. You will need to play a significant role in making this happen.”
Some 360 Witsies graduated in the Faculty and are part of a total of 4 600 students graduating during the University’s March/April graduation cluster. More graduations will be held in June/July and in December this year
About Posel:
Professor Dori Posel is an economist who specialises in applied micro-economic research, which explores the interface between households and labour markets in South Africa. She recently joined Wits to take up the Helen Suzman Chair in Political Economics.
Prior to that Posel held an NRF/DST South African Research Chair in Economic Development at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
She obtained her PhD in Economics from the University of Massachusetts in the US in 1999. She served as a postdoctoral fellow at Princeton University, US, in 2000.
Posel received the NRF President’s award in 2001, the UKZN Vice-Chancellor’s Research Award in 2005, and a B-rating from the NRF in 2012. She has published widely on issues related to marriage and family formation, labour force participation, labour migration, the economics of language, and measures of well-being.