One official language at home language level - minimum 40%.
Two other subjects - minimum 40%.
Three subjects - minimum 30%.
Admission Point Score (APS)
The APS system gives points for the marks you get in your NSC examinations.
Admission to higher learning institutions depends on the total number of points that you obtain.
NBT - National Benchmark Tests
Some higher education institutions may ask you to write National Benchmark Tests.
The NBT is a multiple-choice test that takes three hours and five minutes to write.
Types of NBT Tests
Academic Literacy Test:
Tests your ability to understand vocabulary, evaluate evidence, draw conclusions, and pick out main ideas.
Quantitative Literacy Test:
Tests your ability to apply formulas, read and interpret graphs, charts, and tables, etc.
Wind Damage
Strong winds such as gales, storms, and hurricanes can cause severe damage, injury, and loss of life.
Damage Caused by Wind
Roofs being blown off.
Trees being uprooted and falling over, which can damage buildings and cars, and injure people.
Fruit falling off trees, which damages it so that it can't be eaten.
Fires raging out of control and spreading.
Power lines being damaged, cutting off electricity.
Loss of Open Space and Lack of Infrastructure
People who live in or near towns and cities take over large areas of land that can be used for growing crops and grazing cattle.
They cut down trees that produce oxygen, and carbon dioxide causes climate change.
The infrastructure of towns and cities cannot cope with all the people:
There are not enough houses, so people build temporary shelters that are not good or do not keep out the rain.
The sewage system cannot cope with all the extra waste. The sewage gets into the water and makes it unfit to drink.
As there is no electricity, people make coal and wood fires, which causes pollution.
Pollution
Pollution makes land, water, and air dirty and not safe or suitable to use. Different forms of pollution can cause ill health.
Water Pollution
Water can be polluted by the mud from soil. The mud can carry viruses and bacteria that can cause disease in fish and people. People may eat these diseased fish and become ill.
Industries and mines can pollute the water with their chemicals and acid, making the water too acidic to drink or use for watering crops. Heavy metals, such as lead and mercury, as well as waste from industries, are toxic to the fish in lakes and rivers, and to the people who eat them.
If sewage is not treated properly or if it goes into rivers, it can spread diseases such as diarrhea, cholera, and typhoid fever.
If farmers use too many fertilizers and too much manure, these substances can get into the water and poison it. People who drink this water will become ill.
Air Pollution
Air pollution can cause ill health such as bronchitis and other lung diseases. Old people, children, and people with heart and lung diseases are put at risk by air pollution.
Causes of Air Pollution:
Smoke from burning coal, which produces sulfur dioxide.
Burning petrol or oil in industrial processes produces carbon monoxide and other poisonous gases and also releases lead.
Exhaust pipe fumes from benzene and other chemical processes.
Smoke from forest and land fires.
Environmental Hazards
Soil Erosion
Soil erosion happens when wind and water remove soil faster than it is formed. Once soil is destroyed, it is gone forever. Then plants and trees cannot grow. Soil washes away because there are no roots to hold the soil. There are no plants to slow down the flow of the water.
Human Activities that Affect Soil Erosion:
Overgrazing happens when there are too many animals on a piece of land or because the animals are allowed to graze for too long in one place. Plants become weak and die in dry weather, and the land becomes dusty, or weeds may start to grow.
Deep plowing the land two or three times a year to produce more crops destroys the structure of the soil.
Planting crops down a slope instead of along it allows water to wash the soil down the slope.
Deforestation is the process of removing trees and plants through burning, so that the land can be used for farming.
Soil Erosion Causes:
Causes flooding further downstream.
Fills reservoirs and dams with mud.
Contaminates or dirties drinking water.
Air Pollution
Air pollution can also happen indoors. Sometimes indoor pollution is worse than outdoor pollution because people spend more time indoors.
Indoor pollution can cause lung cancer, heart disease, tuberculosis, etc.
Land Pollution
Land pollution destroys and damages the Earth's surface and can cause ill health.
Causes of Land Pollution:
Rubbish dumps can threaten the health of people because rubbish decays. This decay encourages household pests and germs. If rubbish is burnt, it can add to air pollution, which can make you sick and kill you.
Mining creates mine dumps. Opencast mining is mining on the surface. Therefore, the land can't be used for farming. Mining also pollutes water so that you cannot drink or use it for irrigation.
More and more people move to the cities. Land has to be cleared so that houses and forests can be built. People litter and create more rubbish, as well as more sewage. If these issues are not dealt with properly, they can cause ill health.
Financial Assistance
Bursaries
A bursary is an amount of money that you are given to help pay for your studies at a higher education institution.
You could get a bursary if you don't have money to pay for your studies or if you did well at school.
Study Loans
A study loan is money lent to you by a bank so that you can study. A company or a business may also lend you money. Must be registered at a higher education institute to get a study loan.
Examples: Eduloan, National Student Financial Scheme (NSFAS).
Learnerships
A learnership is a job that pays you while you are studying. You study the theory at a higher education institute and practice what you learn (allowance).
The learnership system is organized by the SETAs (Sector Education and Training Authorities).
Must sign a contract with employer and a higher education institute.
Scholarships
A scholarship is money that a company, business, or organization awards to you because you did well at school, in your studies, or at sport.
You don't have to pay it back.
However, you may have to work for the company that gave you the bursary.