If you finish matric and ask yourself “What now?” then, no, Matric does not prepare you for life after school. Also, matric does not prepare you for life after school if you ask yourself any of the following questions after matriculating:

How do I choose what to study after matric?

What must I do to try and get financial assistance for further studies?

What must I do to find a job after matric?

How long should I look for a job before rather starting my own business from home?

How would I go about starting my own business from home?

What will I need to own or buy before moving out of the family home?

If you do know the answers to the above questions, but you learned these answers at home on your own or through your parents, and not at school during your matric year, then you might still say that matric does not prepare you for life after school, but at the same time this could also mean that matric does prepare you for life after school.
Read on!

If before matriculating you learned how to do your own research, how to ask your parents or anybody else for assistance with what you are trying to find out, how to take notes and analyse those notes, how to weigh up the pros and cons of any decisions you are thinking of making, then matric does prepare you for life after school, and you have only yourself to blame if you don’t use what you learned at school to find out the things you want or need to know.

However, if nobody ever tells you that you can apply what you learn in matric (about research, asking for assistance, taking notes, weighing up pros and cons) to other life situations, then perhaps not all the blame lies with you. If you are not made aware of the fact that what you are learning in matric can be applied to life situations regarding other topics, then after matric you may find yourself asking: “What now?”

You may be asking yourself “What now?” because you may not have been taught how to connect what you learn at school to life situations after matric. If you do know how to connect what you learn at school to life situations but it was your parents who taught you how, and not your school, then you might say that your parents have prepared you for life after school, and that matric didn’t.

The youth unemployment rate in South Africa is high. Even youngsters with degrees are struggling to find jobs in South Africa. If there were more new businesses starting up, that need staff, or eventually need staff, perhaps there would be more available jobs for matriculants in South Africa.

Starting your own business may do two things at once:

1)
provide you with work and an income when you can’t otherwise get a job

2)
provide employment for others should you need staff to assist you with your business

How many matricluants know anything about how to go about starting their own business? Not just the ins and outs of running their own business, but the actual steps to get started?

Does matric prepare you for life after school?

If you are taught the things you need to know and do after school, or at least are taught how to apply what you learn at school to life situations after matric, then yes, matric prepares you for life after school.

Of course you also need to pay attention in class, ask questions, do your homework, assignments and projects, and remember to apply those research skills and other skills to life situations after matric.

© Copyright Teresa Schultz 2012 and 2013