HE sector readies for 2020 amid threats and challenges

At a media briefing in Johannesburg, South Africa, on 3 January, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) Student Command President Mandla Shikwambana threatened “radical and militant” nationwide public disobedience unless universities agreed to allow walk-in registrations, provide free student registration and cancel historic student debt.

Shikwambana criticised the universities of Johannesburg, Pretoria, Vaal and Venda for increasing fees, saying that the EFF student branch would not rule out “public disobedience” to take on this challenge, and adding that they would “shut down” any institution that failed to meet its demands.

Meanwhile, a call for a national shutdown by the South African Union of Students (SAUS) started to take effect on Monday 27 January, as protests erupted at a number of universities, including the University of KwaZulu-Natal, the Durban campus of the University of South Africa and the Mahikeng campus of North-West University.

Among SAUS's list of 15 demands are calls for students with historical debts to be allowed to register in all universities, and for the department to eradicate all historical debt and provide postgraduate funding.

Higher Education, Science and Technology Minister Blade Nzimande adeptly side-stepped the issue during a briefing on the state of post-school readiness in Pretoria on 16 January when he urged universities not to “over-enrol” to ensure there was appropriate infrastructure and human resources for the numbers of students in the system.

Referring to the death of Gloria Sekwena, a student’s mother, during a registration stampede at the University of Johannesburg in 2012, Nzimande said in a statement last week: “Since the tragic loss of life at the University of Johannesburg, most institutions have discouraged walk-in applications, and we have supported them as a department.”

Record number of first-time applicants

For the 2020 financial year, the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) had received a record number of first-time applications (543,268) by the 30 November 2019 closing date (compared to 428,929 the previous year) from across the country, with the vast majority of applicants submitting applications online. All applications were processed over the festive season, with 428,377 applications approved for NSFAS funding.

In a riposte to critics of the department, Nzimande said students eligible for funding would not pay a registration fee, adding that an extra quality assurance step had been put in place to review applications, and 27,129 students who been rejected in the first round could be reassessed subject to the submission of requested documents.

Nzimande said there was a huge difference in the number of applications received for universities and technical and vocational education and training (TVET) colleges, with 453,157 students selecting university as their first choice of public institution, while only 90,111 opted for TVET colleges. More than 212,000 returning university students are eligible for NSFAS funding this academic year, bringing to well over 600,000 the total number of students declared eligible for funding thus far.

In a veiled response to the EFF, Nzimande said he was in discussions about the new academic year preparations with student political formations, student bodies, political parties, labour federations, the South African Local Government Association, faith-based groups and the Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa, among others.

Baxolile Nodada, Democratic Alliance (DA) member of parliament and deputy shadow minister for higher education, science and technology, told University World News there should be a greater sense of urgency to resolve the issues and better collaboration with other departments from the higher education department.

He said the DA wants a commission to probe safety on university campuses and to suggest ways to proactively address violence and crime on campuses. He said there was also a need to boost the infrastructure grant to ensure that TVET campuses are conducive environments for learning in the 21st century.

Financial sustainability

Chief Executive Officer of Universities South Africa (USAf) Dr Ahmed Bawa told University World News the long-term financial sustainability of the sector remains a challenge.

“At the same time that there must be an expansion of the sector to accommodate the National Development Plan’s targets of reaching a participation rate of 30% (of 18-24 year olds) … universities are having to deal with growing backlogs in infrastructure, maintenance and development … there is insufficient student housing, challenges in recruiting suitably qualified staff, among others,” he said.

Bawa said the continuing instability in the sector was of deep concern and it was necessary to find a solution without threatening the rights of students to speak out, demonstrate and engage in peaceful activism.

Bawa said progress was possible if there was continued emphasis on improving throughput rates and “student success”, maintaining expansion in research output, and improving articulation between the universities and society, the universities and the economy, and universities with social and human well-being.

University of Johannesburg Vice-Chancellor Professor Tshilidzi Marwala identified the key issues facing higher education as stability, in terms of student unrest, and finance.

“These issues require political decisiveness. Education, in general, must be declared an essential service. When education is used as a political tool, then the present and future generations are impoverished. Secondly, violence under any circumstances must be eliminated from our campuses. This means we should deal harshly with those who believe they should use violence to meet their objectives,” he said.

Marwala said the issue of access by the poor and marginalised is now a settled issue.

“Where we have a problem is when students are struggling to complete their degrees. NFSAS works if the students are passing. Once they start failing, then they risk losing funding. So, much of the problems with university debt has its genesis in students failing some of their courses. But as a university, we have a responsibility to ensure that we create conditions for students to succeed,” he said.

Maintaining quality

According to University of Pretoria Vice-Chancellor Professor Tawana Kupe, some of the key issues facing universities around the world in 2020 will be improving accessibility and affordability, while maintaining quality.

“While the financial support put in place by government to support poor students will go a long way in addressing their financial needs and making tertiary education more accessible, the demands placed on universities to provide quality education and teaching and learning facilities in an environment where costs continue to soar, will increase significantly,” he said.

Kupe said other challenges include effective diversification and transformation of universities at all levels, and dealing with the challenges for curricula and research brought by rapid technological change.

“Adjusting to and leveraging technological advances and their impact on teaching and learning methods, while at the same time readying students for a continuously and fast changing job market will be a big challenge,” he said.

Rector and Vice-Chancellor of Stellenbosch University Professor Wim de Villiers said the university will want to meet the needs of Africa’s growing population and create a better future by addressing grand societal challenges through research.

However, ongoing fiscal restraints applied by national governments as well as shrinking corporate and donor contributions had become a trend in 21st century higher education.

Dr Anshu Padayachee, chief executive officer of the South African Technology Network, a consortium of universities of technology, said a big challenge was to equip graduates for the future as entrepreneurs instead of job seekers.

“While we refer to ourselves as a developmental state, we need more artisans, and given 4IR [the fourth industrial revolution] we need artisans who can deal with new technology. For example, wind tech as part of the energy issue … The 4IR will not get rid of jobs; it creates a lot more jobs, and will reskill people to do new things. Robots can’t do everything for you; you need people to manage the robots. We need to look at how we are dealing with these issues,” she said.