As mentioned earlier in this chapter, there is a direct link between rural- ity, education and social upward mobility. The concept of employability has been the subject of many studies but still needs further investigation (Hooley 2017). In the African context, while it is true that during colo- nialism and apartheid social upward mobility was predominantly built on race, it is equally true that rural and urban Africans experienced (as they still do) education differently. Those Africans who reside in urban centres have better access to higher education facilities compared to their rural-based Africans counterparts (Arifin 2017; Shavit and Blossfeld 1993). Assuming that education leads to social upward mobility, it goes without saying that urban-based Africans are likely to have higher social status compared to those who reside in rural areas. There are many obvi- ous reasons for this, some of which are discussed below.
Firstly, rural areas have fewer schools compared to urban areas. This is due in part to the fact that most rural areas are sparsely populated as per the definitions provided above. Even the few schools that are there are
not well resourced. Moreover, they are not easily accessible to the major- ity of the rural children (Shavit and Blossfeld 1993). This means that rural children are forced to spend significant amounts of time at home growing up before they are sent to school. This is to allow them the time to have more stamina to sustain them in their long trips to and from schools – sometimes having to cross rivers and climb steep mountains to reach school. In South Africa, provinces such as KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga and Limpopo are among those where rurality is a dominant factor. There are many cases of students (learners) who drown in summer on their way to school, as well as girls who are raped as they cross thick bushes. While all of this is happening, students in urban cen- tres take taxis and buses to go to school or simply walk to school for only a few minutes. Obviously, the scales are skewed in favour of urban students.
When it comes to higher education facilities, the situation is even more dire. There are very few or even no higher education facilities in most rural areas. Therefore, rural children have two options: they can either relocate to urban centres in order to access higher education facili- ties or resort to pursuing options other than enrolling in higher educa- tion programme. In the process, chances of rural children accessing higher education facilities and improving their social status are signifi- cantly minimised. Sadly, this situation is beyond their control. It is not surprising that most of the affluent Africans either have an urban back- ground or had to relocate from rural areas to urban areas in order for them to be where they are today.
The link between education (especially higher education) and upward social mobility has been long-established by many studies. In a study focusing on perceptions of factors which affect employability among final-year students in a rural university in South Africa, Harry, Chinyamurindi and Mjoli (2018) confirmed this link. They identified six factors which either positively or negatively influence employability.
These were:
1. Poor socioeconomic status 2. A poor education system 3. Curriculum issues
4. The choice of higher education institutions
5. Perceptions around the higher education institution, and 6. Social connections.
While it is true that these factors affect both rural and urban areas, we can undoubtedly submit that rural communities are affected even more.
As a general norm, the socioeconomic status of rural communities is exces- sively poor compared to that of urbanites. Education is a national issue.
However, rural communities benefit less in the sense that there is an evi- dent shortage of teaching and learning materials (Torche 2013). Teachers are forced to improvise. This makes the already poor education system less beneficial to the rural students. They imagine a microscope because they either have no laboratory or if one exists there is no equipment and no chemicals to be used to conduct experiments. When these students finish school, they cannot compete or be on a par with their counterparts from urban areas. Already the prospects of their social upward mobility are greatly reduced.
In the case of South Africa, the fact that the country is a unitary state means that the same curriculum is used across the country. But such a curriculum lacks local content. As such, rural students cannot relate to the curriculum content to which they are exposed. Where urban students grasp what is contained in the curriculum because they see the things mentioned in it before and after school, rural students have no clue and can only imagine those things. When it comes to employment after school, rural students are adversely disadvantaged.
The choice of higher education institutions assumes that these institu- tions do exist. Rural students have none. They are forced to choose an institution based on its close proximity and costs for an academic pro- gramme as opposed to choosing an institution because it responds to their academic needs. Some rural students end up in institutions where they can find cheaper accommodation as opposed to choosing the ones where resources are adequate for them to successfully pursue and com- plete their academic programmes.
This ties up with factor number five above regarding perceptions around the higher education institution. Driven by their socioeconomic situation, rural students attend less reputable higher education institutions. This
means that even after they have completed their academic qualifications they do not become the first choice for prospective employers. Regrettably, in South Africa, twenty-five years into democracy, Historically White Universities (HWUs) and Historically Black Universities (HBUs) are not accorded the same status by society. HWUs are perceived to be ‘better’
compared to their HBU counterparts. This means an added burden on rural students who attend HBUs even though this situation is not of their own making.
The last factor on social connections is equally important. Given their geographical location, most rural students have very few or no social con- nections in the urban space; this includes academic institutions and places of work. Where urban students have easy access, rural students have to be introduced through third parties. To make matters worse, some corrupt officials need bribes in order to let these students in. The majority of rural students also lag behind in terms of having access to financial and material resources they could use to pave their way. In the absence of these resources, they are in a disadvantaged position and do not stand a better chance to elevate themselves in the same manner that urban students do.
The view by Chinyamurindi (2012) that higher education offers an opportunity to those individuals who were once excluded in the past to compete in the labour market is relevant and true. However, this is only partly true when it comes to rural communities. Our argument is based on two reasons. The first one is that access to higher education alone is not enough to improve one’s chances to enter the labour market. As men- tioned above, perceptions about the institution where such higher educa- tion was obtained is one of the contributing factors. Secondly, having higher education that is not accompanied by social connection means that chances of rural graduates getting a job are minimal. Rural students are the victims of this reality more than urban students.
Some employers are reluctant to employ graduates who come straight from higher education institutions with no work experience. They expect these graduates who are their prospective employees to already have some employability skills before they start looking for jobs (Artless et al. 2017).
This is unfair since there is no higher education institution which pro- vides experience. Even those institutions that happen to have internship
programmes embedded in their curriculum, not all of them secure spaces for their student interns. Without connections, rural students find it hard to secure internship slots. Sometimes when they do, they find spaces in less reputable organisations or work institutions. This does not help their cause in terms of securing employment and working towards their social upward mobility. In the process, rural students lag behind in terms of improving their chances to move up the social ladder compared to their urban student counterparts.
The decision by the post-apartheid government in South Africa to pro- vide funding in the form of bursaries and student loans to previously disadvantaged students (most of whom come from rural areas) is a com- mendable one. These students are innocent victims of apartheid policies.
They find themselves struggling financially and materially because their parents were denied opportunities to prosper. Due to this funding, stu- dent enrolments at South African universities have increased exponen- tially. While this is a good thing, its negative impact is that there is no correlation between the increase in graduation and employment opportunities.
Therefore, as more students exit the system through graduations, the number of jobs is not meeting the demand. This inevitably leads to these students adding to the already increasing unemployment rate in the country (Edayi 2015; Mncayi 2016). The oversupply of graduates in the labour market compared to job opportunities available is a stark reality (Van Broekhuizen 2016). While this is a common challenge, students from rural areas are the most affected. For them to look for jobs they have to migrate to the urban centres. On arrival, they soon realise that they have no accommodation. If they do find accommodation of one form or another, they still need money for the bus, taxi or train fare to and from the place where they look for work. In the meantime, urban graduates stay at home and most of them are supported by their families, having all the necessities which pose a challenge to rural graduates. In fact, the lucky urban graduates are dropped off by their parents and family relatives in places where they look for jobs and are picked up later. This is not the case with rural graduates.
Another option available to job seekers is to search for jobs from their home base. They do this by either surfing the internet or by reading
newspapers. While this looks simple and straightforward, it comes with its own challenges to rural graduates. Firstly, some rural areas have no access to newspapers. Even in places where newspapers are available, they either arrive a few days after the publishing date, while some newspapers (especially those that have job advertisements) are not found anywhere.
In other instances, there are very few newspapers so that by the time rural graduates reach the shops selling the newspapers they find them already sold out. This is unlike urban centres where graduates have different options such as various shops and filling stations or garages where they can buy newspapers.
The internet is a better option. However, in the absence of libraries and/or electricity supply in most rural areas, this option fails to address the needs of these rural graduates. Using cellular telephones to surf the internet and access job websites and some newspapers sounds like a better option, but this option too has its own challenges. Firstly, the internet connection in most rural areas is not reliable. Secondly, since cellular companies charge high prices for data and airtime, some rural graduates cannot afford these costs. Moreover, having no access to printing facilities means that these rural graduates have to stay on the internet much longer and take handwritten notes. Those who have laptops are then able to draft application letters but still have to travel to town to make copies of the required supporting documents and to certify them. They still need extra cash to print, scan and email or fax those documents before taking transport back home. Worse still, the absence of electricity means that rural graduates can go for several days without being able to charge their phones. Meanwhile, urban graduates do not have these challenges. So, the life of a rural graduate is characterised by incessant struggles.