As the year draws to a close, many students are looking forward to furthering their education after high school. Choosing a qualification at a higher education institution can be very overwhelming for students as they have to choose between higher certificates, diplomas or degrees.
SABC News spoke to CEO of Boston City Campus, Ari Katz to help parents and guardians to assist students in choosing the correct qualifications for their tertiary studies.
Katz says that it is very important that students get career advice when choosing a qualification as the more career exploration and advice that a student gets the better their chances of success in the future.
Boston City Campus offers accredited Higher Education qualifications, including state-of-the-art Postgraduate Diploma in Management, a range of Degrees, and numerous Diplomas and Higher Certificates. They also offer a variety of work-ready Occupational and Short Programmes which meet industry needs and are developed by industry specialists and leading professionals in their fields.
Boston City Campus is providing students with free access to career advice and a tool called career compass which provides career exploration. They are offering this at their 45 centres across the country and students do not have to be registered with Boston to partake in it.
Career exploration is important as more careers are being made available recently as technology is progressing and jobs are moving online.
The matrics of 2020 will be receiving their matric results later than usual next year and Katz says the matric certificate is very important as it affects students employability and ability to pursue tertiary education.
The matric certificate indicates to students whether they can pursue a higher certificate, diploma or a degree.
"For example, if you have aspirations of studying towards a bachelors degree but you only achieved a higher certificate pass. You're able to enter into that higher certificate, gain exposure in that particular career for a year and then use that higher certificate, if you do well enough, as a passport into a bachelor's degree the following year," says Katz.
It is therefore vital that matrics understand what their matric certificate entails.
Students should choose an institution which is best suited to them, in terms of what meets their needs and wants.
Katz says students must also build their own CV as employers will want to see that students have applied themselves beyond their studies through experience or research.
Students are encouraged to expand their knowledge beyond the theory that they have learnt for their qualification as this increases their chances of entering into a workplace once their studies are completed.
