Question NW978 to the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation
05 April 2022 - NW978
Tarabella - Marchesi, Ms NI to ask the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation
(a) Which degrees offered across universities has he found have the least job opportunities, (b) which universities offer the specified degrees and (c) what amount of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme funding goes towards funding students studying towards the degrees?
Reply:
(a) and (b) The Department does not collect data on job opportunities linked to qualifications. However, the Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) — Quarter 3 of 2021 indicates that only 2.7% of unemployed persons were graduates, while 7.2% had other tertiary qualifications as their highest level of education.
(c) As at 31 December 2021, the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) reported that R33.652 billion was paid to new and continuing students registered at public universities.