MP, at the seminar on the challenges facing the transformation of higher
education, at the Centre for Conflict Resolution, University of Cape Town
26 February 2007
Chairperson,
Deputy Vice Chancellor, Professor Thandabantu Nhlapo,
Professor Njabulo Ndebele, Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape
Town,
Professor Brian O'Connell, Vice Chancellor of the University of the Western
Cape,
Professor Vuyisa Tanga, Vice Chancellor of the Cape Peninsula University of
Technology,
Professor Russell Botman, Vice Chancellor of Stellenbosch University,
The honourable Professor Shepard Mayathula, Chairperson of the Portfolio
Committee on Education,
Honourable members of Parliament,
Executive Director of the Centre for Conflict Resolution, Professor Adekeye
Adebayo,
Chairperson of the Board of the Centre for Conflict Resolution, Mr Leon
Levy,
Staff and students of various higher education institutions,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Colleagues and friends,
Thank you for inviting me to this important seminar discussing the
transformation of our education system.
Before I start, may I take this opportunity to congratulate Professor Botman
on his recent appointment as Vice Chancellor of Stellenbosch University. Your
appointment is yet another milestone in the transformation of our education
system and we wish you strength and success as you lead the university into our
second decade of freedom.
On an occasion such as this where one is requested to comment on a matter
that has occupied the minds of so many for so long we should, perhaps, start
from the beginning as a way of finding our way.
Chairperson, I presume that when you chose this topic you were conscious of
the fact that this year will be 10 years of implementing Education White Paper
3: A Programme for the Transformation of the Higher Education System,
promulgated in July 1997 and the Higher Education Act (Act 101 of 1997)
promulgated in December 1997.
Prior to that, we had the report of the National Commission on Higher
Education which reported in 1996. The brief of the commission in essence was to
advise government on the future restructuring and transformation of the higher
education system. Both the White Paper and the Higher Education Act used the
report of the commission as their point of departure. Other seminal policy
documents that followed were the report of the Council on Higher Education
titled "Towards A New Higher Education Landscape: Meeting the equity, quality
and social development imperatives of South Africa in the 21st century" and the
National Plan for Higher Education issued in 2000 and 2001 respectively.
White Paper 3, which is the policy basis for the transformation of our
higher educations system, has identified a number of principles which include
the establishment of a single co-ordinated higher educations system, equity,
access and quality, democratisation, effectiveness, efficiency and development
and academic freedom and public accountability.
Professor Adebayo, I suspect a few among us might have forgotten that when
former Minister Bhengu took office in 1994, he inherited 19 Departments of
Education and a disparate Higher education system consisting of universities
and technikons that were established on racial, language and ethnic lines.
White Paper 3 therefore states that the higher education system must be
planned, funded and governed as a single national co-ordinated system.
In terms of governance, all Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are now
governed under the Higher Education Act and private Acts of different
institutions have been repealed. Similarly, the statues of all institutions
have been revised to conform to the Higher Education Act.
As a consequence of the promulgation of the Higher Education Act, the
councils of HEIs and other governance structures have been democratised. As you
are aware councils now comprise of academics, students, management and external
persons who come together not as representative stakeholders but as individuals
who are charged with the responsibility of governing the institution.
Similarly, the Act legislated the establishment of student representative
councils (SRCs) and those uniquely South African institutions, the
institutional forums. We also developed our own model of governance which we
call corporative governance.
During the last 10 years of implementing the Act, we continue to face a
number of challenges particularly with the regard to a common understanding of
"corporative governance." This has sometimes been interpreted as co-governance,
thus leading to some councils assuming the role of management and some students
assuming that they, management and councils, cannot take decisions without
their consent.
The establishment of institutional forums, a representative body of
stakeholders, was intended to advise the councils of institutions an all
aspects of institutional policy and governance. There is a perception that many
forums are not performing their designated function. In this regard the
Department of Education will be reviewing the efficacy of these forums working
closely with HEIs.
The Higher Education Act also established the Council on Higher Education
(CHE) as an independent statutory advisory body, responsible for advising the
Minister of Education on all aspects relating to the transformation and
development of higher education in South Africa. The CHE is also responsible
for accreditation, quality assurance and quality promotion through a permanent
sub-committee of the CHE, the Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC).
Chairperson, you would be aware of the range of advises and initiatives of
the CHE and the HEQC since their establishment in June 1998. We now have a
national system of quality assurance and promotion, which includes programme
accreditation and institutional audits. The programme accreditation and in
particular the national reviews have highlighted the uneven quality within our
higher education system. Our challenge into the future is to institutionalise
and deepen the quality management systems of all our institutions.
I am sure everyone in this room will support the statement made by the CHE
in 2001, in making a case for higher education; that "higher education and in
particular public higher education has immense potential to contribute to the
consolidation of democracy and social justice, and the growth and development
of the economy. The enhancement of democracy lays the basis for greater
participation in economic and social life more generally. Higher levels of
employment and work contribute to political and social stability and the
capacity of citizen to exercise and enforce democratic rights and participate
effectively in decision-making. The overall well-being of nations is vitally
dependent on the contribution of higher education to the social, cultural,
political and economic development of its citizens."
This is can only be realised if the education we provide is of high
quality.
Another major policy intervention towards the establishment of a
co-ordinated higher education system was the introduction of a (national and
institutional) planning process linked to a new funding formula that would
enable the higher education system to be steered to meet national development
goals.
As previously stated, quality goes together with access and equity.
In terms of access, we have made tremendous strides in opening the doors of
leaning. In 1994 there were approximately 495 000 students registered in higher
education, compared to 734 000 in 2005. This figure is set to increase to over
800 000 by 2010, being close to our target of 20% participation rate for the
age cohorts of 18 to 24 years. This access has also been supported by the
National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), which is government's response
to assisting needy but capable students to access higher education.
Government's contribution has increased from R20 million in 94/5 to over R1,2
billion including repayments in 2006.
Similarly, the equity profile of the higher education system has changed
markedly during the same period. In 1994, approximately 55% of the student
population in higher education was black, compared to 75% in 2005. This is
getting closer to the demographic representation of our population.
In numerical terms this means that during 1994, 271 000 students were black
and in 2005 548 000 are black.
Within the category of black students, African student enrolment increased
from 212 000 in 1994 to 447 000 students in 2005.
Our challenge is and continues to be ensuring that this success in access is
matched by equity in outcomes. The recent cohort studies of the 2000 and 2001
first time entering students conducted by the Department of Education showed
that too few of these students, approximately 22%, graduated after five
years.
While the Department of Education is the first to acknowledge that the
reasons for the low graduation rates are numerous and complex, it does not
detract from the fact that access without a fair chance of success is not
access at all. While some of these are still studying, particularly those
enrolled at University of South Africa (UNISA), some have not been able to
continue with their studies.
In response to these challenges, the Department has used funding of the
system as a positive lever for change. The new funding framework introduced in
2004/05 included two separate mechanisms designed to improve the student output
rates of institutions. The first is an earmarked allocation of funds for
foundation programmes and the second a formula based procedure for allocating
teaching development funds to institutions.
In addition, the Department is investing in teaching and learning
infrastructure as well as re-capitalising a significant number of historically
black institutions. Re-capitalisation has enabled these institutions to
stabilise their finances and to begin addressing areas that have been neglected
owing to financial constraints.
To date, recapitalisation payments and commitments totalling R625 million
have been allocated to the University of Fort Hare (R100 million), University
of the Western Cape (R170 million), the Durban University of Technology (R162
million) and University of Free State (R23 million), the Tshwane University of
Technology (R87 million), the University of Zululand (R46 million) and the
University of Venda (R27 million). The University of Limpopo, the Walter Sisulu
University and Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University are also due for
recapitalisation.
Similarly, a total of over R543 million has been invested in a number of
institutions since 2002 to improve teaching and learning infrastructure as well
as student residences. I believe the Minister will talk to this matter in her
upcoming budget speech at the National Assembly:
* University of KwaZulu-Natal: R150 million for improving and relocating
teaching and leaning facilities, primarily on the Westville campus
* University of Fort Hare: R30 million for deferred maintenance including
student residences
* University of South Africa: R100 million for improving teaching and learning
facilities through strengthening teaching and leaning centres
* University of Zululand: R25 million for improving teaching and learning
facilities including deferred maintenance for student residences
* Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University: R1,5 million for improving teaching
and learning facilities by upgrading the chemistry laboratories at the former
Vista campus
* North West University: R47 million for improving teaching and learning
facilities including deferred maintenance for student residences at the Vaal
Triangle and Mafikeng campuses
* University of the Western Cape: R3,8 million for teaching and learning
facilities in clinical health sciences
* Tshwane University of Technology, R36 million for deferred maintenance
including student residences
* Cape Peninsula University: R18 million for harmonisation of teaching and
learning facilities
* University of Venda: R132 million for improving teaching and learning
facilities including deferred maintenance for student residences and
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) facilities.
In 2005 the Department of Education and the National Treasury initiated a
joint review of funding trends in the higher education sector in the context of
national policy goals and objectives. The report has identified a number of
critical issues, which include the improvement and modernisation of teaching,
learning and research infrastructure, the student and staff ratios and rate of
increase in student fees. The latter has a real potential to impact negatively
on access and graduation. The Minister has indicated that it is her intention
to respond in a sustainable manner to this problem.
I wish to take this opportunity of challenging our institutions to respond
by continuously reviewing teaching practices and approaches. The students
coming into higher education today are different from those of 20 years ago. It
cannot be assumed that methods used then will still be appropriate today. We
may also need to ask ourselves how well we are using the academic calendar. If
we require more time to teach, should we not reduce the number of holidays?
Similarly, the culture of our institutions must be responsive to the
changing profile of our students and society in general. This is important for
all institutions and not just those that were established through mergers. In
this regard, I am looking forward to the final report of the CHE on
institutional autonomy and academic freedom and their upcoming consultative
conference on the relationship between institutional culture and student
success.
Chairperson, at a future time, I would also wish to talk to two other
important aspects of transformation of higher education, namely, institutional
diversity and knowledge generation. You would all be aware that one of the
purposes of higher education as stated in the White Paper is to contribute to
the creation, sharing and evaluation of knowledge. Higher education engages in
the pursuit of academic scholarship and intellectual inquiry in all fields of
human understanding, through research, learning and teaching. This role is
critical for the continued health of the higher education system as HEIs are
the only institutions that can produce the next generation of academics and
scholars.
In closing, I hope you would agree that the challenges of transforming
higher education are immense but not insurmountable. Despite the significant
progress that we have made, a lot more still needs to be done in order to move
closer towards realising the objectives that we have set for ourselves.
Indeed the transformation of higher education is not an event but a process
that requires all of us to work in concert and ensure that that we keep the
promise that higher education is contributing to the consolidation of democracy
and social justice and the growth and development of our country.
I would like to once again, thank the Centre for Conflict Resolution for
inviting me and particularly for raising such an important issue as the
transformation of higher education.
Thank you!
Issued by: Department of Education
26 February 2007