An issue which increasingly courts ridicule the more dystopian our society becomes, is that as a country, we are in desperate need of conversations about the moral and ethical side of human existence. Modern life imposes a plethora of pressing socio-economic challenges on individuals. There are, oftentimes, no immediate solutions for the challenges.
Consequently, the wretched of the earth like the young Yonwabo Manyanya die lonely deaths surrounded by a sea of multitudes, each consumed by their individual exigencies of survival; unable so much as to extend a helping hand to another while a NSFAS bureaucracy gets its act together. The progressive in political outlook would hardly quarrel with this view. If the generations of yesteryear paid the supreme sacrifice for our freedom, then repaying a public sector loan which gets reinvested in the nation’s human resource development cannot but be a timeless generational mission for the youth today and in the future.
Another related issue, but one which requires an altogether different discussion, is that to overcome the national skills shortage also requires a qualitative shift in the disciplines that students pursue in their tertiary education studies. The bulk of the public investment in tertiary education should increasingly be deployed into the creation of vital skills in science and technology as this is where much of the shortage lies.