Promotional activities for student recruitment between urban and rural schools in KwaZulu-Natal

Abstract

This study explores how a university promotes its products across urban and rural schools. In this exploration, the differences of its promotion strategies and processes are illuminated with a purpose of improving promotion to urban and rural communities to provide relevant and appropriate information to enable potential urban and rural students to make informed decisions and preparations for their intended studies at urban campuses of higher education institutions. The challenges represented by the restructuring of higher education and the implementation of the National qualification framework have created new opportunities for tertiary institutions. Competition for higher education has increased over the past few years due to an increased number of private education service providers that have entered the market. This has resulted in intense competition among universities and universities of technology to attract high quality students. This study reviews the literature in the field, focusing on promotional activities and the marketing strategies for student recruitment in our rapidly developing Higher Education Institutions. Thus the approach for this study entailed extensive searches of relevant literature. Hence the intention was to ensure that, as far as possible, all literature in the field was identified – while keeping the focus on literature of greatest pertinence to the research questions The researcher investigated the influence of promotional tools employed by the selected higher education institutions in the KwaZulu-Natal region from a student perspective. The sample for the study targets Grade 12 learners across urban and rural secondary schools. A case study methodology is deemed as most appropriate as the research focuses on how the higher education institution promotes itself amongst urban and rural communities and the issues associated with this approach. The University of KwaZulu-Natal has purposefully been selected as the institutional case study. The data was generated from interviews with Principals and Life Orientation Educators. The research design is therefore located within a quantitative and qualitative approach. The study concludes with students in the rural preferred face-to-face communication whereas students in the urban preferred social media. It is advised that marketing practitioners should revise their marketing strategies to encompass social media to reach out to their target audiences.