Students still
‘ see the silver lining’
The majority of tertiary students might be concerned about South Africa’ s future over the next five years due to prevalent corruption, soaring unemployment and the economic devastation caused by COVID-19, but some still see the“ silver lining”.
This is the finding of the 2021 Student Confidence Index( SCI) survey, conducted late last year by PPS.
The survey has been conducted annually by PPS since 2015, except in 2020 due to COVID-19. The 2021 survey involved 3 304 participants.
The students who participated are undergraduates and postgraduates studying at a public university or university of technology, and studying towards a profession-specific degree such as engineering, medicine, law or accounting.
They responded to the survey through online questionnaires and virtual focus groups.
“ Of the respondents, 51 % are more anxious when compared to 2020 about the future impact of COVID-19. Regarding their feelings about the country’ s future over the next five years, 39 % are not positive, while 41 % say they are uncertain,” says Motshabi Nomvethe, Head of Technical Marketing at PPS.
“ This is because of a confluence of problems such as comparatively low standards of education, crime and a lack of political will to solve them. For 88 % of the students, the debilitating unemployment, and for 77 % the rampant corruption, sit aloft their worry list,” Nomvethe explains.
As a consequence, 55 % of respondents are somewhat or completely not confident that they will get a job after obtaining
their qualification. A growing number of students are, therefore, pursuing entrepreneurship. One in three students has a side hustle, with 31 % intending to grow these once employed. More than a third( 39 %) of all respondents say they are planning to pursue greener pastures outside the country.
“ However, many students choose to see the silver lining and are determined to grab the opportunities presented by these challenges,” says Nomvethe.
The students are taking full advantage of the rise in the freelance and side-hustle economy where people have multiple income streams.“ I have three side hustles. I am a‘ fitness bunny’ that sells supplement products and clothes that I buy in Pretoria and sell in my community. I also knit and sell scarfs,” explained one student.
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