The Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Dr Blade Nzimande remarks on the 6th Humanities and Social Sciences Awards held at the Cradle of Humankind-Maropeng
Programme Director
Chairperson of the Board, Prof Ari Sitas and other NIHSS Board members NIHSS CEO – Prof Sarah Mosoetsa;
Vice Chancellors
Deputy Vice Chancellors
Deans of Humanities and Social Sciences Judges of the HSS Awards
Esteemed guests Ladies and gentlemen
Good evening
Let me take this opportunity to thank the leadership of the National Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences (NIHSS) for inviting me to participate in this 6th Humanities and Social Sciences award ceremony -an event that seeks to recognise contributions and excellence in the higher education sphere in the
humanities and social sciences. This year’s awards are being held under the theme “Books, Creative Collections and Digital Contributions”. These are the first annual NIHSS Book, Creative Collection, and Digital Contribution Awards.
I am delighted by the fact that these awards will be held annually to honour outstanding, innovative and socially responsive scholarship, creative as well as digital contributions that enhance and advance knowledge and performance in the humanities and social sciences.
The fact that these awards recognise and celebrate those members of the Humanities and Social Sciences community who are undertaking significant work in building and creating post-apartheid and post-colonial forms of scholarship, creative production, and digital humanities outputs, is highly commendable.
Humanities and Social Science (HSS) Awards have adjudicated over 293 books, from a modest 36 books in 2017, to 82 submissions this year.
What is significant and particularly welcome is the wide range of topics covered, representing the key contemporary priorities of the day. This includes a strong focus on environmental issues, our maturing democracy and its challenges, the fourth industrial revolution, and understanding our diverse past.
I look forward to further growth in the number and range of issues covered by publications and products in our humanities and social sciences.
Certainly , over the past decade, the outlook for the humanities and social sciences have improved substantially. The HSS awards was and continues to be an important contributor to a brighter future in this regard.
The establishment of the NIHSS has certainly done well for the HSS. During the past six years the NIHSS has held these annual awards to honour academics and other humanities practitioners who have contributed and pushed boundaries of knowledge in their respective fields within HSS.
These awards are taking place at a critical time, when the entire global community is grappling with the global pandemic of COVID-19. We do not know how long this global pandemic will be with us, but we are clear of what needs to be done to weather the storm and mitigate its socio-economic impact.
I also wish to take this opportunity to congratulate and thank the NIHSS for the role it has played in mobilisation of social science in support of government’s efforts in combatting Covid 19. Research and surveys that you have conducted have played a crucial role in informing gobernment strategies and policy choices in handling the deadly virus.
It is indeed to be welcomed that the Humanities and Social Science (HSS) Awards themselves have continued to grow since their inception with significant improvements in the quality of the entries. I therefore commend the leadership of NIHSS for this impressive achievement.
These awards are held as government has launched the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan by the President on 15 October 2020, as part of our country’s response to the negative economic impact caused by Covid 19.
It therefore becomes critical that entire higher education, science and innovation system should ensure that our sector plays a critical role in our path towards an inclusive growth and development trajectory, as indicated in the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan (ERRP), prioritising, in the main, young people, women and people with disabilities.
The disciplines of the Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) are pivotal on how we view our society and its transformation. The central role that the humanities and social sciences play, particularly, in learning and, generally, in life cannot be taken lightly.
They teach us a range of skills, from cognitive reasoning to seeking solutions to societal problems that are forever challenging us.
Therefore, your contribution to research and knowledge, which we are here to celebrate, is worth this time, effort and any kind of celebration we can offer and, therefore, should never be underestimated.
In the age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and rapid changes in the global economy, there has been a necessary national focus towards Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, otherwise collectively known as STEM programmes.
The necessary shift towards STEM programmes has challenged the field of Humanities and Social Sciences, where there has been an outcry of humanities being side-lined or left behind. However, what we need to be cognisant of is that, in the age of technological advancement, the role of humanities is what brings a balanced perspective to society.
Thus, a multidisciplinary approach is absolutely central in the understanding of societies, and therefore requiring an even deeper collaboration between natural and social sciences.
In other words, I am advancing the argument that the advancement of STEM programmes should not be allowed to marginalise and displace humanities and social sciences. In order to succeed in strengthening social sciences and humanities, let our research speak for itself.
Human and social scientists play a vital role in providing critical analyses of national goals, choices about development policies and strategies, and other national issues pertaining to the transformation of South African society.
Equally important to any society that seeks to be innovative in its response to the demands of global change is social research that identifies and explains global trends and their implications in political and economic life, communications and lifestyle changes. Research in the social sciences is therefore of fundamental importance, particularly at this point in our history.
So, the affirmation of importance of HSS is not an act of self-aggrandisement by humanities and social scientists, but also an acknowledgement by STEM scientists who are also brought up by the same communities and society, by the way.
For the past few years the higher education, science and innovation sector experienced vast changes, some of which came through turbulences caused by the fourfold crisis confronting global capitalism today:
- COVID-19;
- deepening economic crisis; locally and globally;
- the multiple crises of socio-economic sustainability for families, households and communities, and
- Climate Change.
Our economy has been stagnant for decades with low levels of investment and growth, leading to reproduction of unemployment, poverty and inequality. This global pandemic has put a significant strain on our collective efforts to tackle these social ills, as identified in the National Development Plan.
The role of the Humanities and Social Sciences in deconstructing these and other concepts and challenges is invaluable, and your field must do more to make everyone an informed player and contributor of knowledge and development of our institutions in this regard.
The National Development Plan highlights the need to promote research and knowledge production that meet our society’s needs, and to enable our country to play its role globally.
As such, there have been a number of initiatives introduced by government, that seek to enhance inclusive access to a range of higher education opportunities for all South Africans.
For instance, the Department of Higher Education and Training’s Staffing South Africa’s Universities Framework (SSAUF) – a Transformative, Comprehensive Approach to Building Capacity and Developing Future Generations of Academics initiative represents a bold and decisive response to these challenges.
The SSAUF has built on previous investigations and international experience and takes as a starting point the urgent and challenging imperative to recruit, support and retain black and female academic staff to address their very serious under-representation at all levels in the sector.
It recognises the need for more explicit attention to be paid to creating much wider awareness of academic work as a career that is both attractive and attainable for those with ability, and sets out pathways for new and existing staff through which staff can be effectively developed, inducted and supported to embark on and succeed in an academic career.
The SSAUF is multi-pronged, nationally coordinated, premised from the outset on new permanent posts, and aims to provide effective induction into and development of all aspects of the academic job: teaching, research, social engagement, and academic leadership and management.
The Department took a conscious decision to develop and strengthen the academics in the post school and training sector through Staffing South Africa’s University Framework and the programmes currently being rolled out includes :
- The Nurturing Emerging Scholars Programme (NESP)
- The Existing Academics Capacity Enhancement Programme (EACEP)
- The Staffing South Africa’s Universities Development Programme (SSAU-DP)
- The Supplementary Staff Employment Programme(SSEP)
These initiatives are aimed at responding to the challenges that the post school education and training sector and the broader South African society face.
To make a reference to one of these important programmes, is the New Generation of Academics Programme (nGAP) which is an important intervention which seeks to recruit young academics into the sector, while simultaneously addressing transformation.
The programme is designed to balance equity in the disciplinary areas needed to be developed across the country. The programme draws from current senior postgraduate students or past students who hold the appropriate degrees and have the ambition to become active academics.
The institute seeks to strengthen the HSS fields in the post school education and training sector. It does so through a number of funding projects, such as, the catalytic projects; doctoral schools; the African Pathways and the hosting of the South African BRICS Think Tank, which itself has its own areas of focus and goals.
On the science and innovation side, we are driving a number of interventions and initiatives through the National System of Innovation (NSI) approach.
The NSI provides for a solid governance framework, a clear set of policies, a strong set of performing institutions and funding agencies, and a relatively successful track record with regards to innovation itself.
Two important developments, catalysed by the Covid-19 crisis and response, are the re-shaping and strengthening the role and contribution of the humanities and social sciences.
Over the last few years, the Human Science Research Council (HSRC) for instance, has undergone an intense period of reflection and have repositioned itself to focus more extensively on the triple challenge of poverty, inequality, and unemployment.
As a Department we commit to continue our engagements with relevant stakeholders in transforming the higher education, science and innovation sector.
In closing, ladies and gentlemen, I wish to commend institutions that are promoting the fields of the humanities and the social sciences as they play a pivotal role in how we understand our societies.
I extend our congratulations to all the winners and the runner ups and everyone else who continue to work hard in promoting humanities and social sciences.
To have made it this far means that you have been affirmed by your peers, and the work that you have undertaken continues to contribute to our understanding of South Africa and bring forward new forms of knowledge.
Thank you
