LEARNING IS HINDERED BY MANY BARRIERS - AN INSIGHT INTO BARRIERS THAT IMPACT ON THE GRADUATE’S EMPLOYABILITY WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO BOTHO UNIVERSITY

Learning and teaching are the basic aspects of life on which individual success or failure is hinged. Effective learning can be accomplished in a conducive environment. The ideal learning environment for effective learning is usually inhibited by factors often termed barriers to learning. These barriers are a stumbling block in the learning and teaching processes with dire consequences on the individual student and teacher effort, parental and government financial and resource investment into the education system, and the overall loss to the economy due to half-baked graduates affected by these barriers. The objective of this study is to identify the barriers and challenges that negatively affect learning at tertiary institutions which leads to low rate of employable graduates. This thorough study identifies and suggests solutions to the identified barriers in an effort to improve the students’ performance and ultimately their employability. Apart from the changes in curriculum, tertiary institutions and other relevant stakeholders may work together to put up support services and structures to groom the students outside the classroom. This way, students may overcome the barriers, perform better and increase their chances of getting employed. The study identifies the barriers, their causes, effect on learning, possible solutions and the support structures available at the various Botho University campuses.