Are high school teachers and university academics on the same page? A case of the university readiness of business education learners at two schools and two universities

Abstract

Many studies nationally and internationally continue to find that schools are not preparing learners adequately to cope with the demands of higher education, hence the high dropout rate particularly at the first-year level. We found that, in most cases, research studies conducted in South Africa focus solely on a particular stakeholder's perception to gain insights into students' readiness for university as opposed to corroborating perceptions of both teachers and academics. Thus, the aim of our paper is to explore the perceptions of both business education high school educators and lecturers in terms of how they view the readiness of learners for university, particularly for the bachelor of commerce degree programme. The findings highlight the lack of communication and collaboration between schools and universities. Recommendations are proposed to assist the staff of high schools and universities to work collaboratively in order to provide high school learners with adequate foundational knowledge and skills that will ensure that they are ready for higher education studies. We argue that exploring the perceptions of high school teachers and academics collectively could be a step in the right direction towards paving the way for successful learning at university for first-year students in bachelor of commerce degree programmes.