INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW
TRANSFORMATION MODEL IN HIGHER EDUCATION
INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW
A nation’s graduates have the power to define a country’s forward movement. Our graduates become political and thought leaders. They are inventors, managers, en- trepreneurs, scientists, engineers, writers and teachers.
Their knowledge has the power to impact our environment and when applied to our enterprises, industries, services and infra- structure, cause immense positive change.
So it is imperative that equity, restructuring, financing of bursaries, student’s access to institutions and quality of higher education are all addressed to maximize the influence of our graduates.
TRANSFORMATION MODEL IN HIGHER EDUCATION
HIGHER EDUCATION STRATEGIC PLAN 2010 - 2015
The DHET’s long-term strategic plans for the post-school education and training sys- tem will optimise continuity and change. The foundations were laid in the solid work of the past 20 years, but future possibilities will require versatile and creative strategies. The challenges that we face cannot be ad- dressed within the limited perspective of five years. The work we have set out to do, as outlined in this Strategic Plan, forms part of a longer-term horizon that was imagined over many years of public debate - and on- going debate must continue to mould our vision of the future.
A COMMITMENT TO INCLUSIVE CONSULTATIVE PROCESSES
Consultative processes across this newly uni- fied sector were historically fragmented and new conversations must be created in an atmosphere of mutual trust, so as to seek a unifying common public good for a coherent system, despite diverse and often competing interests. We believe that it is through vibrant and inclusive debate that the best ideas should gain support and that the consensus and mo- mentum required for successful agreement on, and realisation of, this vision will be built. We can only sustain this project over the next decades and succeed in the task if it has the support of those that who are expected to implement it and benefit from it.
For this reason, in 2010/11 the Minister will lead a policy process to seek consensus across the system on a vision for the future. This will culminate in a legislative review. This system must then be built systematically over time - building on established foundations.
BROAD OVERARCHING CHALLENGES IN THE POST-SCHOOL EDUCATION AND TRAINING SYSTEM
Our long-term goals must be guided by our understanding of our current context and its relationship to the structural con- sequences of apartheid - in particular the devastating systemic impact on the human resources potential of our country. Struc- tural challenges include skills bottlenecks, especially in priority and scarce skills ar- eas; low participation rates; distortions in the shape, size and distribution of access to post-school education and training; as well as quality and inefficiency challenges in the system and its sub-systems and in institutions. If we are to meet the economic and social goals of participation in an inclu- sive economy and society, these challenges will have to be addressed so that we are equipped to compete in a more sustain- able, diversified and knowledge-intensive international economy, which will meet the developmental goals of our country.
UNIVERSITY SPECIFIC CHALLENGES
The Human Resources Development of South Africa (HRDSA) prioritises three key goals in relation to universities in particular:
n To increase the participation of men and women in under-graduate and post- graduate science, engineering and tech- nology, in absolute numbers and in pro- portion to the population demographics, with respect to race and gender.
n To increase the size and calibre of the academic teaching and researcher popu- lation, in order to create the knowledge required for economic and societal de- velopment in the next 50 or more years.
n To ensure that the level of investment in education is equivalent to the global average for the further and higher edu- cation and training systems.
In order to achieve these goals and others, broad challenges in the university sector that must be addressed, include:
Success
The poor performance of the schooling sys- tem is a major systemic constraint to suc- cess in the university system. Access to pro- grammes with specialised entry requirements is a major concern to universities, as is the under-preparedness of students and the con- sequent high drop-out and poor completion rates. Not only must graduation rates be im- proved, but there must be a systemic focus on the production of high-quality graduates.
Quality
Success rates must be improved, not only by interventions that are focussed on the needs of students, but also on the improve- ment of teaching and learning practices, in order to promote equity in learning op- portunities. Best practice must be identified and lessons applied across the system. The improvement in quality of the academic experience includes improving the broad support given to students, including an im- proved residential experience.
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CHAPTER 10 | HIGHER EDUCATION
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CHAPTER 10 | HIGHER EDUCATION
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