Universities must research underlying causes of the social ills crippling South Africa
Universities must do what they do best: that is, conduct research in critical challenges facing South Africa, as they carve their way into the future, said Dr Bonginkosi Nzimande, Minister of Higher Education and Training, Science and Technology yesterday.
Officially opening the first national higher education conference to be hosted by Universities South Africa in Pretoria yesterday, the Minister said the principal challenge facing South Africa was an economy in distress. This was manifesting itself in social ills such as the violence flaring up in homes, communities and the broader society. He said while South Africa never recovered from the economic meltdown of 2007/8, the lessened demand for migrant mine labour had resulted in the unskilled mine labourers of the past now occupying South Africa’s urban settlements, “pitting poor working class against the poor” and in the process, creating what he called a “crisis of social reproduction.”
He said the cross-border and rural-to-urban migration phenomenon, also being witnessed in the entire Sub-Saharan Africa, “becomes more acute in this time of social economic distress.” He said as universities sought to re-invent themselves for the future, they would do well to conduct research in some of these social challenges. To that end, he said he was encouraging the National Research Foundation to appoint a Research Chair on migrant integration and development.
Learn from the past in re-inventing yourselves for the future
The Higher Education Minister also drew universities’ attention to lessons from the past. He said one such lesson lay in the unintended consequence of bolstering student funding at the undergraduate level. “As much as money was made available in response to the FeesMustFall campaign, all extra funds from the system have been channelled to undergraduates, much to the neglect of the post-graduate pipeline. My big preoccupation now is to increase funding for post-doctoral study – which we cannot achieve without addressing the Honours level,”
Continuing to outline key other areas needing attention in the sector, he mentioned transformation, further citing the “gender composition of our senior personnel” as a continuing area of concern. He said while the internationalisation of higher education must be welcomed and encouraged, among other matters to facilitate the necessary of participation in the system, of foreign academics, researchers and students, “this must not subvert the need to produce local talent. It is very crucial that we strike the right balance between foreign participation and production of postgraduate scholars – especially among blacks and women. We must harness talent across all sectors of society.”
Caption: My big preoccupation now is to increase funding for post-doctoral study – which we cannot achieve without addressing the Honours level,” Dr Nzimande said, to audience applause.
He also cited inequalities between institutions – the urban/rural divide. He implored universities to make time to debate issues of collaboration between the more resourced institutions and their historically disadvantaged counterparts. “I know that institutions compete among themselves. But we need to collaborate on the developmental agenda.” He also said it was in the interest of universities, as national assets in the production of skills for the entire education system, to build relationships with vocational training and education (TVET) colleges – if only to strengthen them, thus enabling them to attract more school leavers to equally needed vocational training.
With reference to the National Development Plan to increase universities’ enrolment targets from the current just over one million to six million by 2030, Minister Nzimande called this an ambitious, too-soon goal. He said instead of looking to attract more feet to campuses, institutions should rather be looking to expand online offerings and increasing adult training in the evenings to optimise use of their own infrastructure. He encouraged debates into these matters for solutions into the future.
As he drew towards concluding, the Higher Education Minister warned previously disadvantaged institutions that “there is no free lunch. Work towards your own sustainability.” He expressed dismay about the rate at which institutions were still being put under administration due to, among other ills, maladministration and the mismanagement of funds disbursed for infrastructure development. He also announced a plan to build more infrastructure with the aim of achieving student accommodation of 80% across the sector in the next 10 years.
In conclusion, Dr Nzimande said this conference was well timed, as the Department of Higher Education and Training was winding up the next National Higher Education Plan. He said the outcomes of this conference might well just influence thoughts in that plan. To that end, he said he looked forward to hearing the views of universities about the issues outlined above and also about financing Higher Education, including financing infrastructure.
Change may be difficult and painful; but it is unavoidable
Speaking on the rationale of this conference, Professor Wim de Villiers, Vice-Chancellor and Principal of Stellenbosch University, who is also the Vice-Chairperson of Universities South Africa, said the rapidly changing world and the pressures mounting on universities, including technological advance, economic forces and demographic shifts, were forcing institutions of higher learning to adapt or face the risk of extinction. He said while changing the culture of institutions was not easy, as it tented to cause uncertainty, a sense of loss and raised discomfort in people, “we cannot shy away from our challenges. We play an important role in society; we have a vital contribution to make to national development, helping our country and its citizens tackle the numerous challenges we face now and going into the future.”
Caption: “Change is neither easy nor pleasant; but it is inevitable,” Prof Wim de Villiers said in his capacity as Vice-Chairperson of USAf.
The conference was therefore about changing institutional cultures to better accommodate new generations of students and staff, and to respond appropriately to the challenges and opportunities presented by the swift technological advancements associated with the fourth industrial revolution, Prof de Villiers said.
Quoting from Jeffrey Buller’s work of 2015, Professor De Villiers admitted that universities do not handle change particularly well and, in fact, tend to resist it. Acknowledging that change is already here, he said the issue was no more about whether to change, but rather about how and what universities intend to do about it.
“That change will be not for universities’ sake, but for the benefit of society at large,” the USAf Vice-Chairperson said as he invited his peers to “work together constructively to produce an academic culture that responds well to each new challenge or opportunity, capitalise on evolving possibilities when times are good, and demonstrate resilience when times are bad.”
‘Mateboho Green is Universities South Africa’s Manager: Corporate Communications.
