Academic and Program Planning – Membership for South Africa's Higher Education System (original) (raw)
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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...
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Since the fall of the apartheid regime South African higher education has begun to undergo a process of fundamental transformation. First-world universities, which were beneficiaries (however unwilling) of past racial inequalities, have had to adapt to the urgent needs of what is a post-colonial and, for the majority of its citizens, a third-world society. South Africa, therefore, provides a particularly sharp example of the encounter between a higher education system established within the European tradition, in terms of both its institutional and its academic culture, and a society in the process of radical change. This encounter has been mediated through the work of the National Commission on Higher Education which attempted to produce a compromise that would enable South African higher education to be both ‘Western’ (in terms of academic values and scientific standards) and also ‘African’ (in terms of its contribution to building the capacities of all the people of South Africa)...
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.
Kuwait Chapter of Arabian Journal of Business and Management Review, 2013
This paper explores an array of higher education issues that require careful consideration by traditional universities, distance education colleges and universities, academics and indeed government and its bureaucracy in terms of how higher education is approached generally in respect of the formulation of some education policy imperatives within higher education in South Africa. In reality the paper explores or takes the approach of delineating a compact of issues that will require serious understanding and discussion in respect of the issues being raised. In approaching this paper, the writer will for all intents and purposes summarize some of the articles and issues discussed in the supplement of the Mail and Guardian-Getting Ahead, August 3 to 9: 2012. Where applicable other issues will be raised that go beyond the issues raised in the series of articles discussed in the supplement. In addition, the writer will also project on the issues discussed by generating some of his own opinions within the narrative. In so doing the following issues will be nuanced and discussed: Matching policy with reality for young people in South Africa. The free market for students. Research at the cost of teaching. Research is at the mercy of plutocracy. Former Technikons have an identity crisis. Social cohesion by promoting the teaching of African languages. The need for multifaceted leaders to meet the challenges of globalized higher education and for purposes of development. Postgraduates need a better deal It is hoped that the discussion of the above issues will stimulate reasoned debate and that both traditional and distance higher education institutions and South African Business Schools, and higher education policy makers will incorporate some of these issues within the ambit of their policy formulation, and the vision and mission of their institutions.
International Journal of Higher Education, 2024
Most sub-Saharan African (SAA) states have massive populations, which bring many social dynamics and challenges for domestic policy in many sectors. This stems from reforms that, in most cases, require governmental intervention. In the education sector, most youth attend government schools in large numbers. Some of the challenges these numbers create include overcrowding, lack of technology, lack of qualified teachers, high student-to-teacher ratios, poverty in some households, and inequality. South Africa has 26 universities, Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges, and private colleges. These institutions, especially those the government runs, typically see a massification of local and international students studying at them. This raises the question of whether it is a population or government failure. This question stems from the fact that 26 public institutions cannot cater to the many students transitioning from secondary to higher education (HE). Using a qualitative research methodology, I contend that the South African government should invest more in HE to solve the transition problem as the population grows with limited university space to accommodate everyone.
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