Track: Engineering Education

Abstract

The existing disparity between Department of Higher Education (DoHE) and Department Basic of Education (DoBE) cannot be neglected. The purpose of the study was to investigate the requirements for passing matric in secondary schools and enrolling to engineering bachelor’s degree in higher education. A sample of 400 learners/students was used to provide their perception on the requirements for passing matric and requirements for enrolling to a bachelor’s degree. The data was gathered through questionnaires and interviews. The study provides research information on the entities (High school, college, and University) and it therefore quantified the extent to which the gap exists. From the survey, Majority of learners are aware of different certificates awarded after meeting the requirements for passing matric. However, these learners are not aware that entrance requirements to bachelor’s degree in different universities are not the same. Learners are also not aware that a bachelor pass in matric does not guarantee them an entrance into a degree course. Many students from rural areas want to pursue engineering education but they don’t have enough information about different degrees requirements and duration. The study indicates there is a need for information transfer between universities and secondary school. There should be coherence between DoHE and DoBE policy in order not to mislead learners.

Keywords: matric, engineering education, university enrolment requirement.