In 2004, South Korea joined the trillion dollar club of world economies, and currently is among the world's 20 largest economies. The South Korean system was initially, characterised by close government and business ties, including directed credit and import restrictions. The government promoted the import of raw materials and technology at the expense of consumer goods, and encouraged savings and investment over consumption.
The table above shows very interesting comparisons between South Korea and South Africa. Both countries have almost equal population sizes, with South Africa having more land. Given the size of the economies South Korea has more Gross National Income per population size at US $20,870 compared to South Africa’s US $6,960. The structures of the two economies are different but the fundamental contrast between the two economies is on the number of post high school tertiary institutions. South Korea has 100 times more institutions than South Africa even with South Africa’s bigger land availability.
Government has a role to play in the creation of information, intelligence or education necessary for the creation of industrialists. This is called a, "Knowledge Economy". Knowledge Economy is an economy in which growth is dependent on the quantity, quality, and accessibility of the information available. If SA were to become a Knowledge Economy, the biggest reform in education would not be the quality of education but access to institutions of learning from high school to under graduate level.
The number of matriculants willing to learn towards a degree should not be affected by the limited number of studying opportunities in current institutions. I respect that the National Development Plan (NDP) has recognized the need to build Universities in Northern Cape and Mpumalanga but I believe we still have room to build 30 more specialized institutions outside the Quality Council for Trades & Occupations (QTCO) scope. We need specialized institution to train new graduates in high speed rail, a specialized, Japanese study field which will drive the NDP's transport integration proposals; we need Post graduate institution in Nuclear energy or alternative Hydrogen option to add to the Eskom’s grid; if Fracking takes over the Karoo, then we need to establish a Karoo based Fracking institution up to PHD levels, after all this is the technology that the American President says it’s going to stop the US dependency on foreign oil.
Just a thought!
