With the anxious wait for matric results over, many matriculants are now confused about what to do next.
Only 162374 of the 442672 pupils who matriculated last year (36%) qualified for a university entrance. But education and economic experts say not achieving a bachelor pass should not be a barrier to success because the economy needs diverse skills.
"We are more concerned about certificates than skills. Many degrees are probably less valuable economically than the skills obtained from technical institutions," said economist Dawie Roodt.
"We also need more people with technical skills such as specialist welders and builders, while we often have too many social science graduates," said Roodt.
"With some careers you just need a technical qualification. Even with engineering you do not always need a degree.
"We have been recruiting engineers without university degrees and they are earning more than a person with a degree," said Surprise Madula, social media recruiter at Greys Recruitment agency.
Roodt said there was a need to foster a culture of entrepreneurship among the youth.
"[There are] a number of ways to do this: pay civil servants less so that it becomes more attractive to become an entrepreneur, change from socialist to free-market policies and teach entrepreneurship from early on," said Roodt.
And experts said agriculture was one of the most overlooked yet profitable industries.
Tompi Seleka College of Agriculture in Limpopo said students could qualify to study either a nimal or p lant production and needed to score 20 points in the university entrance points measure , in which m athematics and English were compulsory.
"The courses include modules such as economics, accounting, business management and entrepreneurship," said college spokesman Mokete Mphahlele.
Mphahlele said graduates were not confined to work directly in farming. Some had been hired as advisers to institutions giving agricultural loans or selling agricultural insurance; others had moved to animal food research companies and earned up to R300000 a year.
If you missed the deadline for university admission applications last year, the central applications clearing house manages late applications and accepts walk-ins.