Plan to expand and improve South Africa’s Higher Education sector

In a Green Paper on Post-School Education and Training, the South African government Department of Higher Education and Training recently announced its plans to raise university enrolments from the current 900 000 students to 1.5 million by 2030. Also mooted was a target of 4 million students for colleges and other post-school institutions – 6 times more than current numbers. These changes will raise the participation rate in post-school education of 18-24 year olds from the current 16% to 23%.

The Green Paper includes in its agenda:

• new funding;
• improvement of access to education and training opportunities;
• research on financial problems facing many students as well as poor living conditions and student support services;
• strengthening of institutions to improve education quality;
• the development of a post-school education and training system that is equitable, accessible and affordable to all sections of the population, with free education and training for the poor;
• support for previously disadvantaged universities, including asisstance to improve infrastructure and quality of teaching and research;
• reform of South Africa’s complex regulatory system, by doing away with duplication. and incoherence and inconsistency in the functioning parts of the system;
• building coherence between basic education and the post-school system and between the post-school system and the labour market;
• strengthening of collaboration between private and public sectors;
• expansion of distance education, using appropriate information communication technologies, other technologies and methods;
• the creation of two new universities in the Northern Cape and Mpumalanga provinces;
• improvement of throughput rates;
• addressing concern sbout low participation rate of Africans;
• addressing concern about decrease of male students;
• improvement of graduation rates in science, engineering and technology, because it is not meeting economic development objectives;
• strengthening of scholarship in the humanities;
• provision of resources and funding to strenthen teaching in universities, without reducing the importance of research;
• exploration of the possibility of partnerships between public and private institutions;
• strengthening of African languages as part of formal programmes

 The Department of Higher Education and Training also plans to work with the Department of Science and Technology to ensure increased support for postgraduate study and for senior researchers, as well as a stable funding model for all educational institutions that conduct research. This means improving research capacity as a major focus for universities with a specific focus on meeting the country’s developmental objectives.

To read more go to Karen McGregor’s article on University World News by Clicking Here!

To read more go to Kim Cloete’s article at Cross Currents on MoneyWeb by Clicking Here!

To read the Green Paper on Post-School Education and Training Click Here!

Reaction to 2011 Matric results

Reaction to South Africa’s 2011 matric results have been varied. The 70.2 % national senior certificate pass rate was welcomed by government and some analysts. This positive response was understandable given that it is the first time since 2004 that more than 70 % of students passed.

However many analysts sketched a different picture. The total number of matric candidates dropped from 537 543 in 2010 to 496 090 in 2011. This means a drop of 8% or 41 453 students. Another statistic analysts pointed out is that of the 923 463 students that started grade 1 in the year 2000, only 496090 sat for the matric exams in 2011, which means the “true pass rate” is actually 38 %.

Afriforum pinned the problem on the lack of mother-tongue education, while Jonathan Clarke told the Mail & Guardian that there is anecdotal evidence that schools are rushing low achieving students through lower grades and then hold them back in Grade 10 or 11. Other analysts criticised the low level at which matric can be passed. To pass matric students had to achieve 40 % in their home language, 40 % in two other subjects and 30% in three subjects.

To read more go to Greg Nicolson’s article on DailyMaverick by Clicking Here!

To read Michelle Jones’ article in the Cape Times Click Here!

 To read Jonathan Jansen’s article on IOL news Click Here!

To read Faranaaz Parker’s article in the Mail & Guardian Click Here!