From curriculum to credibility: National bodies sound an alarm on postgraduate training

Structural challenges within South Africa’s postgraduate education system, ranging from curriculum misalignment to the erosion of evidence-based knowledge, came under sustained scrutiny during World Café 2 at the 2026 Enabling Quality Postgraduate Education (EQPE) colloquium.

The session, titled A Look at Key Concerns of the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), Council on Higher Education (CHE), and Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI), formed part of a structured, rotating small-group dialogue format designed to generate collective insight through facilitated engagement.

The 2026 colloquium was the last in a three-part series led by the Enabling Quality Postgraduate Education (EQPE) project, funded by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) and led by Professor Sioux McKenna from Rhodes University. The initiative was implemented in partnership with the Community of Practice for Postgraduate Education and Scholarship (CoP PGES), led by Professor Stephanie Burton from the University of Pretoria, under Universities South Africa (USAf)’s Advancing Early Career Researchers and Scholars (AECRS) programme.

Ms Mandisa Cakwe, Director for University Capacity Development Programme (UCDP) in the DHET, outlined the department’s core concerns, particularly regarding the structure and responsiveness of master ‘s-level postgraduate programmes.

She said the department continues to confront tensions between professional and traditional academic qualifications, especially regarding their purposes and outcomes.

“The main concern is the balance between professional degrees and traditional academic degrees, particularly at master’s level,” Cakwe said.

Pointing out that alignment of the curriculum with industry and professional standards remains uneven, she raised questions about the preparedness of graduates entering the labour market. “There are ongoing concerns about whether curricula are sufficiently aligned with current industry needs, professional bodies and labour market demands,” she said.

Next, she highlighted the inconsistent inclusion and quality of work-integrated learning, describing it as a critical but underdeveloped component of many programmes. “Work-integrated learning and experiential components are essential, yet their inclusion is often limited or uneven,” she said.

Cakwe also raised concerns about supervision and mentorship capacity, noting that pressures on academic staff affect both the quality of supervision and student support. “Supervision capacity has been widely discussed, but mentorship is equally important in shaping postgraduate outcomes,” she said.

She argued that assessment methods require reform, particularly in professional programmes where traditional academic approaches may not adequately measure applied competence. “Assessment methods must evaluate practical skills, professional judgement and applied knowledge, not only theoretical understanding,” she said.

Cakwe stressed the need for curricula to remain responsive and adaptable in rapidly evolving professional fields. “Programmes that are slow to update content risk failing to prepare graduates for emerging technologies, policies and professional practices,” she said.

She further underscored the importance of interdisciplinary skills, including leadership, communication, ethics and digital literacy, as essential competencies in contemporary workplaces. “If these competencies are not embedded within the curriculum, then we are not preparing graduates adequately,” she said.

Cakwe also addressed access and equity considerations, calling for flexible learning pathways to accommodate diverse student cohorts. “Curriculum structures must support working professionals and diverse students through flexible options such as part-time study, blended learning and recognition of prior learning,” she said.

She noted that policy frameworks, including the National Plan for Post-School Education and Training, already guide how to address these concerns. “But the question is whether we are making full use of these instruments,” she said.

The UCDP Director also pointed to this programme as an example of key enablers, urging institutions to utilise available resources more effectively. “But their impact depends on how meaningfully they are used,” she said

Dr Amani Saidi, Director of Research, Monitoring and Advice at the Council on Higher Education (CHE), focused on the implementation of doctoral standards and the development of graduate attributes, situating his remarks within ongoing system-wide reform.

He said the CHE’s doctoral qualification standard, introduced in 2018, has been broadly welcomed across institutions, yet persistent implementation challenges continue to slow progress. “The standard represents a positive step, but its implementation has revealed significant challenges,” Dr Saidi said.

Dr Saidi explained that traditional supervision models are not always able to support the full range of graduate attributes required at the doctoral level, particularly in a rapidly changing knowledge environment. “Not all graduate attributes can be developed through traditional supervision approaches,” he said.

He noted that while academics increasingly recognise the need for reform, institutional constraints and entrenched practices often limit the adoption of new approaches. Dr Saidi said this tension reflects a deeper structural disconnect between policy intentions and institutional realities, with reform often slowed by governance systems that are resistant to change.

“The way things have been done for decades cannot continue unchanged, yet changing systems is not straightforward,” he said.

He highlighted ongoing debates around the introduction of coursework in Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) programmes, particularly whether such coursework should carry academic credit. “The current framework discourages credit-bearing coursework, which may limit our ability to support the development of key graduate attributes,” he said.

Dr Saidi indicated that proposals under consideration include differentiated doctoral pathways that draw on existing master’s-level models, with three distinct types of qualifications already in place. “At master’s level, we have professional master’s degrees, master’s by coursework and dissertation, and master’s by full research thesis,” he said.

He said similar differentiation at the doctoral level could provide clearer pathways and better alignment with diverse academic and professional outcomes. “We may see multiple doctoral pathways, including professional doctorates, coursework-based doctorates and thesis-based doctorates,” he said.

The Research and Monitoring Director added that current proposals include a structured balance between coursework and research, with discussions referencing a potential split of 120 credits for coursework and 240 credits for the dissertation component.

He noted that the review of the Higher Education Qualifications Sub-Framework (HEQSF) remains ongoing, with stakeholders divided on key issues and the direction of reform. “The debate has been intense and ongoing, moving forward and backwards at times, which explains the delay in finalising the review,” he said.

Dr Sibusiso Manzini, Chief Director for Research System Development and Science Engagement at the DSTI, raised broader concerns about the epistemological environment shaping higher education. He warned that postgraduate education is increasingly influenced by what he described as a post-truth era, where evidence-based knowledge is challenged or disregarded. “The post-truth era is characterised by decisions that are not grounded in objective facts,” Dr Manzini said.

He said this trend is reflected in growing distrust of science, including vaccine scepticism and climate change denialism. “We are seeing a global shift where evidence-based knowledge is questioned, and that is a serious concern,” he said.

Dr Manzini attributed part of this development to digital technologies and algorithm-driven information systems. “Algorithms create echo chambers that reinforce alternative narratives and weaken critical thinking,” he said, warning that this creates an epistemological risk, where individuals struggle to distinguish between fact and fiction. “This is not only a societal issue, but a direct challenge for higher education,” he said.

He expressed concern about the implications for postgraduate training, noting the emergence of practices such as AI-generated dissertations and outsourced research. “We are seeing what could be described as delegated theses, where the student does not fully undertake the intellectual work,” he said.

He argued that universities must respond by reinforcing the value of knowledge, competence and intellectual integrity. “The challenge is to ensure that graduates view knowledge as empowering, not as a burden or threat,” he said.

Dr Manzini also addressed the role of social values in postgraduate education, drawing on the Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation Institutional Landscape Review (HESTI report). He said values such as integrity, fairness and accountability are essential to the functioning of higher education and scientific practice.

“Without integrity, the entire system of science collapses, and without fairness, processes such as peer review lose credibility,” he said. He questioned the extent to which postgraduate education has advanced these values in the democratic era.

“What contribution has postgraduate education made to shaping the values of our society?” he asked. Dr Manzini argued that postgraduate education must extend beyond technical knowledge to include ethical and societal dimensions.

“Postgraduate education should advance more than knowledge and skills; it must also strengthen the values that underpin our society,” he said.

The session concluded with participants engaging in structured discussions, reflecting on the challenges raised and their implications for postgraduate education. Key themes included curriculum reform, capacity for supervision, interdisciplinary learning, and the need to restore trust in knowledge systems. The discussions highlighted the complexity of postgraduate education reform, emphasising the need for coordinated action across policy, institutional and academic levels.

Bhekisisa Mncube is a contract writer for Universities South Africa