South African higher education reform: what comes after post-colonialism? (original) (raw)

HIGHER EDUCATION REVIEWED Two Decades Of Democracy South African

The debate on the Africanisation of higher education forms part of the larger discourse on the restructuring and transformation of these institutions. Issues of transforming higher education institutions have been on the agenda of the government and other key players, particularly in the decades following colonial independence. The driving forces, goals and effects have not been uniform over the years and some authors (Singh, 2001) have argued that the discourse on higher education transformation is being watered down and reduced to terms of market responsiveness.

Higher Education in South Africa at the Crossroads

Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 5(2): 469-475, 2014

In this article the authors explore the current state of higher education in South Africa in an attempt to locate the study within the current socio-economic and political imperatives driven by the knowledge economy and a changing global environment. The article is based largely on an examination of current education policy documents that address future developments in higher education in the South African context. The key aim is to understand the trajectory that higher education in South Africa is taking to help millions of young people in South Africa (including those who are currently excluded from sought-after fields of study and training institutions) access those opportunities that are available and, in the process, to promote equity and redress, quality, development, democratization, academic freedom, institutional autonomy, effectiveness and efficiency, and public accountability. The authors acknowledge that great strides have been taken in the country to make higher education a reality for many young people.

THE AFRICAN RENAISSANCE AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE HIGHER EDUCATION CURRICULUM IN SOUTH AFRICA

The curriculum is a critical element in the transformation of higher education, and as a result, I argue for the inclusion of what I refer to as an African epistemic in higher education curricula in South Africa. In so doing, attention is directed at the decolonisation of the curriculum in higher education in South Africa which aims to give indigenous African knowledge systems their rightful place as equally valid ways of knowing among the array of knowledge systems in the world. In developing my argument, I maintain that a critical questioning of the knowledge included in higher education curricula in South Africa should be taken up in what I call transformative education discourses that examine the sources of the knowledge that inform what is imposed on or prescribed for curricula in higher education in South Africa, and how these higher educational curricula are implicated in the universalisation of Western and European experiences. [F]or at least three centuries since the conquest of the indigenous people in the unjust wars of colonisation the education curriculum in South Africa did not include African philosophy. For the colonial conqueror and the successor in title thereto the indigenous conquered peoples had neither an epistemology nor a philosophy worth including in any educational curriculum. Ramose (2004,138)

Transformation Discourses and Universities in South Africa

2008

Our vision is of a South Africa in which all our people have access to lifelong education and training opportunities, which will in turn contribute towards improving the quality of life and building a peaceful, prosperous and democratic society'. (Department of Education, Vision Statement, 2008) 'What is it about [higher education] which keeps alive our optimism in its socially transformative power and provides the preconditions for any socially transformative project, yet which also pulls in the opposite direction -towards an ethos of individual competition and the reproduction of a hierarchy of social advantage?' (Ruth Jonathan, 2001, p.48) This paper explains some of the terminology used to describe South African universities, traces key shifts in access, and seeks to explain and identify issues around the transformation project in higher education. It constitutes a work-inprogress contribution to thinking in the research team on how we understand transformation discourses and practices in relation to policy and institutions on the one hand, and poverty reduction and pro-poor professional education on the other. Jansen et al raise the question as to what the reach and impact of changes in higher education have been on higher education practices, what changes mean to higher education practitioners, and how changes are shaped by both the national context and the global arena. How poverty reduction is framed by universities, by selected professional education sites in those universities, and how this framing is acted on, negotiated, understood by diverse actors and shapes professional education is central to the research project. Framings of transformation and human development discourses and practices in relation to professional education by universities and diverse actors are then also at issue.

South African post-apartheid Higher Education policy and its marginalisations : 1994-2002

2009

This paper looks at higher education policy changes in South Africa (1994-2002), focusing on political constituency views and higher education funding. The structural flaws of apartheid higher education are contrasted to the post-1994 policy framework, and the following argument is presented. Although a radical shift in policy content and direction has occurred from apartheid to post-apartheid, numerous problems continued within the higher education sector and in policy processes, specifically in their implementation within and between institutions. The policy weaknesses exist in various areas, such as funding, redress and capacity building, both for historically disadvantaged institutions (HDIs) and for students, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds. One reason for such problems in the higher education system is the fact that the market mechanism remains strong in the system in general and in universities in particular. The system thus continues to be fragmentary, althou...

The South African higher education system: performance and policy

Transformation in higher education in South Africa over the last 20 years has been strongly shaped by post-apartheid pressures. Recent research shows that South Africa's current higher education system can be described as medium knowledgeproducing and differentiated, with low participation and high attrition. In the decade following 1994, both policy frameworks and capacity building of the sector received considerable attention. Massification and differentiation are concepts that have been under discussion for some time in South Africa, but have yet to be translated into practical mechanisms for delivery of results. The Centre for Higher Education Transformation initially focused its efforts on stimulating debate on cutting-edge issues in South Africa. More recently, it has shifted its focus to strengthening regional and national development of African universities to enable their more meaningful participation in the global knowledge economy and society.

Education (im)possible: A historic view on the adequacy of higher education in South Africa

This paper highlights the historic foundations of the current higher education system in South Africa. The system has seen the application of restrictions from two successive oppressive systems: colonialism and apartheid. Neither of these allowed access to education to the majority of the country's people. Both systems left an impact that is making it very difficult to ensure that HE is able to be relevant in terms of curriculum, and accessible in terms of quality and number of graduates. While there is agreement that substantial change has to happen in HE it cannot happen at all costs. It is important for the youth to realise that what appears to be a system that does not want to change, is in fact a system with its foundations in almost 200 years of suppression of progressive contextual intellectual thought. The start of the #FeesMustFall movement in South Africa (SA) has highlighted the problems inherent in higher education (HE). It has put the South African HE system under pressure for not responding to transformation objectives in terms of representativeness (mostly staff objectives), affordability, rigid disciplinary boundaries and not providing sufficient graduates to support economic development targets. Most African states were colonised by Western powers in the nineteenth century. Under colonialism, cultural diversity was contained through the exclusion of African traditions from education (Woolman, 2001: 27). In the case of South Africa, an oppressive segregationist regime followed decolonisation and extended the problems related to nation building, transformation and economic development. Exclusively Western education systems and curricula were implemented in order to address the education needs of people (both privileged and underprivileged). The recent events surrounding HE in SA bear testimony to the problems related to the inherited system. Makgoba (2015) paints a somewhat bleak picture in this regard: " The story has been with us since the dawn of our democracy and has been growing every year. It resonates with the nation and addresses the same three pillars mentioned in the National Development Plan (NDP): inequality, unemployment and poverty. The story is critical for students' future and indeed for the very survival of a healthy HE. It will also affect the future of the nation…. It simply cannot be ignored and must be addressed. " The situation is even more desperate in relation to SA's global economic position. Historic imbalances had left the system inadequate with the advent of democracy in 1994. There is a definite need to reassess the possible contribution of the system in order to support current and future challenges. Like other emerging economies, South Africa has to adjust and restructure education systems in order to produce graduates able to cope in the new interconnected global economy and to address critical skills shortages that are restricting economic growth.With the #FeesMustFall movement, universities are now also focusing on fees and access. In the background, the issues of the representativeness of staff and the transformation and ownership of the curriculum – especially the latter – in most instances have not been at the top of the list of priorities. We are at a point where we can hardly afford another round of stun grenades and rubber bullets to stem the tide. According to Msila (2016),#FeesMustFall is just the start of change. The issue of affordability of HE is strongly related to " far broader social and educational issues that we have hardly begun to address, such as the indigenisation of knowledge. " These challenges have to be seen against the backdrop of our colonial and political heritage. We cannot forget our history as we can only move forward based on the lessons of the past. A new system expanded on the current foundations may be criticised for replicating the problems of the past.The question is really whether HE is adequate in