4 September 2006
Minister of Education Naledi Pandor has endorsed community engagement as
âcore valueâ in our universities.
Addressing a conference on community engagement in Cape Town she said: âIt
is my view that university programmes should engender in their students a
life-long commitment to effective community engagement.â
More community service programmes now exist at universities than ever
before, significantly assisted by the Joint Education Trust's (JET) programme
to expand their number and the council on Higher Education's mandate to assure
their quality.
âAs I am sure you will agree,â she said, âthe concept of community service
is very diverse - including medical community service as internships, community
service in legal aid clinics on our campuses and other less exalted social work
kinds of community serviceâ.
She continued: âHowever, if we are to do justice to the idea in higher
education we need to focus on a particular strategic objective to produce
graduates who are well rounded and thoroughly grounded.â
The overarching goal of the conference is to promote an enabling environment
for the conceptualisation and implementation of community engagement in South
Africa's Higher Education.
Contact:
Lunga Ngqengelele
Tel: (012) 312 5538
Cell: 082 566 0446
E-mail: ngqengelele.l@doe.gov.za
Issued by: Department of Education
4 September 2006
