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A Programme for the
Transformation of Higher Education (Education Draft White Paper 3)
General Notice 1196 of 1997
Department of
Education
Pretoria
24 July 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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FOREWORD
The release of the Education White Paper 3
- A Programme for Higher Education Transformation, is the culmination of a wide-ranging
and extensive process of investigation and consultation that was initiated with the
establishment of the National Commission on Higher Education (NCHE) in February 1995 by
President Mandela, and the subsequent release of the Green Paper on Higher Education in
December 1996 and the Draft White Paper on Higher Education in April 1997.
This extended consultation is a concrete
expression of the democratic will that is the motorforce of our emerging nation and
reflects my Ministry's commitment to stakeholder participation in the development and
formulation of policy. The consultative process has resulted in the building of an
all-embracing consensus around the broad policy framework outlined in this White Paper and
has ensured that it commands the support of all the key stakeholders in higher education.
It has also laid the foundation, in line with my Ministry's commitment to cooperative
governance, for all of us together, to jointly embark on the long and exciting journey
towards the transformation of the higher education system.
The transformation of the higher education
system to reflect the changes that are taking place in our society and to strengthen the
values and practices of our new democracy is, as I have stated on many previous occasions,
not negotiable. The higher education system must be transformed to redress past
inequalities, to serve a new social order, to meet pressing national needs and to respond
to new realities and opportunities.
The White Paper outlines the framework for
change, that is, the higher education system must be planned, governed and funded as a
single national co-ordinated system. This will enable us to overcome the fragmentation,
inequality and inefficiency which are the legacy of the past, and create a learning
society which releases the creative and intellectual energies of all our people towards
meeting the goals of reconstruction and development.
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I have no doubt that the journey is not
likely to be easy. However, I am confident that if we collectively commit ourselves to
completing it in the spirit of the consensus that has already been achieved, we will reach
our destination, that is, a higher education system that contributes to the building of a
better life for all.
Prof S M E Bengu, MP
Minister of Education
August 1997
CHAPTER 1
CHALLENGES, VISION AND
PRINCIPLES
INTRODUCTION
1.1 South Africa's transition from
apartheid and minority rule to democracy requires that all existing practices,
institutions and values are viewed anew and rethought in terms of their fitness for the
new era. Higher education plays a central role in the social, cultural and economic
development of modern societies. In South Africa today, the challenge is to redress past
inequalities and to transform the higher education system to serve a new social order, to
meet pressing national needs, and to respond to new realities and opportunities. It must
lay the foundations for the development of a learning society which can stimulate, direct
and mobilise the creative and intellectual energies of all the people towards meeting the
challenge of reconstruction and development.
1.2 This White Paper outlines a
comprehensive set of initiatives for the transformation of higher education through the
development of a single co-ordinated system with new planning, governing and funding
arrangements.
PURPOSES
1.3 Higher education has several related
purposes. In the context of present-day South Africa, they must contribute to and support
the process of societal transformation outlined in the Reconstruction and Development
Programme (RDP), with its compelling vision of people-driven development leading to the
building of a better quality of life for all. These purposes are:
- To meet the learning needs and aspirations
of individuals through the development of their intellectual abilities and aptitudes
throughout their lives. Higher education equips individuals to make the best use of their
talents and of the opportunities offered by society for self-fulfilment. It is thus a key
allocator of life chances an important vehicle for achieving equity in the distribution of
opportunity and achievement among South African citizens. .
- To address the development needs of society
and provide the labour market, in a knowledge-driven and knowledge-dependent society, with
the ever-changing high-level competencies and expertise necessary for the growth and
prosperity of a modern economy. Higher education teaches and trains people to fulfil
specialised social functions, enter the learned professions, or pursue vocations in
administration, trade, industry, science and technology and the arts.
- To contribute to the socialisation of
enlightened, responsible and constructively critical citizens. Higher education encourages
the development of a reflective capacity and a willingness to review and renew prevailing
ideas, policies and practices based on a commitment to the common good.
- To contribute to the creation, sharing and
evaluation of knowledge. Higher education engages in the pursuit of academic scholarship
and intellectual inquiry in all fields of human understanding, through research, learning
and teaching.
NEEDS AND CHALLENGES
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1.4 Assessing the current state of higher
education in South Africa against the yardstick of these four general purposes, and the
principles that are outline under 1.17 below, the Ministry finds reason for concern and an
imperative for transformation. Despite acknowledged achievements and strengths, the
present system of higher education is limited in its ability to meet the moral, political,
social and economic demands of the new South Africa. It is characterised by the following
deficiencies:
- There is an inequitable distribution of
access and opportunity for students and staff along lines of race, gender, class and
geography. There are gross discrepancies in the participation rates of students from
different population groups, indefensible imbalances in the ratios of black and female
staff compared to whites and males, and equally untenable disparities between historically
black and historically white institutionst in terms of facilities and capacities.
- There is a chronic mismatch between the
output of higher education and the needs of a modernising economy. In particular, there is
a shortage of highly trained graduates in fields such as science, engineering, technology
and commerce (largely as a result of discriminatory practices that have limited the access
of black and women students), and this has been detrimental to social and economic
development.
- Higher education has an unmatched
obligation, which has not been adequately fulfilled, to help lay the foundations of a
critical civil society, with a culture of public debate and tolerance which accommodates
differences and competing interests. It has much more to do, both within its own
institutions and in its influence on the broader community, to strengthen the democratic
ethos, the sense of common citizenship and commitment to a common good.
- While parts of the South African higher
education system can claim academic achievement of international renown, too many parts of
the system observe teaching and research policies which favour academic insularity and
closed-system disciplinary programmes. Although much is being done, there is still
insufficient attention to the pressing local, regional and national needs of the South
African society and to the problems and challenges of the broader African context.
- The governance of higher education at a
system-level is characterised by fragmentation, inefficiency and ineffectiveness, with too
little co-ordination, few common goals and negligible systemic planning. At the
institutional-level, democratic participation and the effective representation of staff
and students in governance structures is still contested on many campuses.
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1.5 Despite the negative consequences of
the apartheid legacy, some higher education institutions have developed internationally
competitive research and teaching capacities. Their academic expertise and infrastructure
are national assets. It would be detrimental to the national interest and the future
provision of quality higher education if the valuable features and achievements of the
existing system were not identified, retained and used in the restructuring process.
1.6 However, if higher education is to
contribute to the reconstruction and development of South Africa and existing centres of
excellence maintained, the inequities, imbalances and distortions that derive from its
past and present structure must be addressed, and higher education transformed to meet the
challenges of a new non-racial, non-sexist and democratic society committed to equity,
justice and a better life for all.
The policy challenges of transformation,
reconstruction and development
1.7 The transformation of higher education
is part of the broader process of South Africa's political, social and economic
transition, which includes political democratisation, economic reconstruction and
development, and redistributive social policies aimed at equity. This national agenda is
being pursued within a distinctive set of pressures and demands characteristic of the late
twentieth century, often typified as globalisation. This term refers to multiple,
inter-related changes in social, cultural and economic relations, linked to the widespread
impact of the information and communications revolution, the growth of trans-national
scholarly and scientific networks, the accelerating integration of the world economy and
intense competition among nations for markets.
1.8 These economic and technological
changes will necessarily have an impact on the national agenda given the interlocking
nature of global economic relations. The policy challenge is to ensure that we engage
critically and creatively with the global imperatives as we determine our national and
regional goals, priorities and responsibilities.
1.9 In particular, the South African economy is confronted with the formidable challenge
of integrating itself into the competitive arena of international production and finance
which has witnessed rapid changes as a result of new communication and information
technologies. These technologies, which place a premium on knowledge and skills, leading
to the notion of the "knowledge society", have transformed the way in which
people work and consume. [
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1.10 Simultaneously, the nation is confronted with the challenge of reconstructing
domestic social and economic relations to eradicate and redress the inequitable patterns
of ownership, wealth and social and economic practices that were shaped by segregation and
apartheid. This has resulted in the emergence of a sophisticated urban core economy with a
relatively well-developed technological infrastructure and an increasingly highly educated
skilled labour force, co-existing side-by-side with a peripheral rural and informal urban
economy from which the majority of the population, previously denied access to education
and training and restricted to unskilled labour, eke out a living.
1.11 Against this backdrop, higher education must provide education and training to
develop the skills and innovations necessary for national development and successful
participation in the global economy. In addition, higher education has to be internally
restructured to face the challenge of globalisation, in particular, the breaking down of
national and institutional boundaries which removes the spatial and geographic barriers to
access.
1.12 These economic and technological changes create an agenda for the role of higher
education in reconstruction and development. This includes:
- Human resource development: the mobilisation
of human talent and potential through lifelong learning to contribute to the social,
economic, cultural and intellectual life of a rapidly changing society.
- High-level skills training: the training and
provision of personpower to strengthen this country's enterprises, services and
infrastructure. This requires the development of professionals and knowledge workers with
globally equivalent skills, but who are socially responsible and conscious of their role
in contributing to the national development effort and social transformation.
- Production, acquisition and application of
new knowledge: national growth and competitiveness is dependent on continuous
technological improvement and innovation, driven by a well-organised, vibrant research and
development system which integrates the research and training capacity of higher education
with the needs of industry and of social reconstruction.
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1.13 In summary, the transformation of the
higher education system and its institutions requires:
- Increased and broadened participation.
Successful policy must overcome an historically determined pattern of fragmentation,
inequality and inefficiency. It must increase access for black, women, disabled and mature
students, and generate new curricula and flexible models of learning and teaching,
including modes of delivery, to accommodate a larger and more diverse student population.
- Responsiveness to societal interests and
needs. Successful policy must restructure the higher education system and its
institutions to meet the needs of an increasingly technologically-oriented economy. It
must also deliver the requisite research, the highly trained people and the knowledge to
equip a developing society with the capacity to address national needs and to participate
in a rapidly changing and competitive global context.
- Cooperation and partnerships in
governance. Successful policy must reconceptualise the relationship between higher
education and the state, civil society, and stakeholders, and among institutions. It must
also create an enabling institutional environment and culture that is sensitive to and
affirms diversity, promotes reconciliation and respect for human life, protects the
dignity of individuals from racial and sexual harassment, and rejects all other forms of
violent behaviour.
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VISION
1.14 The Ministry's vision is of a
transformed, democratic, non-racial and non-sexist system of higher education that will:
- promote equity of access and fair chances of
success to all who are seeking to realise their potential through higher education, while
eradicating all forms of unfair discrimination and advancing redress for past inequalities
- meet, through well-planned and co-ordinated
teaching, learning and research programmes, national development needs, including the
high-skilled employment needs presented by a growing economy operating in a global
environment
- support a democratic ethos and a culture of
human rights by educational programmes and practices conducive to critical discourse and
creative thinking, cultural tolerance, and a common commitment to a humane, non-racist and
non-sexist social order
- contribute to the advancement of all forms
of knowledge and scholarship, and in particular address the diverse problems and demands
of the local, national, southern African and African contexts, and uphold rigorous
standards of academic quality.
1.15 This vision for higher education is
located within the government's broader view of a future where all South Africans will
enjoy an improved and sustainable quality of life, participate in a growing economy, and
share in a democratic culture.
1.16 The Ministry's vision and programme for transformation are based on a set of
underlying principles and goals which provide guidelines for assessing the higher
education system.
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PRINCIPLES
1.17 The Ministry regards the following as fundamental principles that should guide
the process of transformation in the spirit of an open and democratic society based on
human dignity, equality and freedom:
Equity and redress
1.18 The principle of equity requires fair opportunities both to enter higher
education programmes and to succeed in them. Applying the principle of equity implies, on
the one hand, a critical identification of existing inequalities which are the product of
policies, structures and practices based on racial, gender, disability and other forms of
discrimination or disadvantage, and on the other a programme of transformation with a view
to redress. Such transformation involves not only abolishing all existing forms of unjust
differentiation, but also measures of empowerment, including financial support to bring
about equal opportunity for individuals and institutions.
Democratisation
1.19 The principle of democratisation requires that governance of the system of higher
education and of individual institutions should be democratic, representative and
participatory and characterised by mutual respect, tolerance and the maintenance of a
well-ordered and peaceful community life. Structures and procedures should ensure that
those affected by decisions have a say in making them, either directly or through elected
representatives. It requires that decision-making processes at the systemic, institutional
and departmental levels are transparent, and that those taking and implementing decisions
are accountable for the manner in which they perform their duties and use resources.
Development
1.20 The principle of development means that conditions must be created to facilitate
the transformation of the higher education system to enable it to contribute to the common
good of society through the production, acquisition and application of knowledge, the
building of human capacity, and the provision of lifelong learning opportunities.
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Quality
1.21 The pursuit of the principle of
quality means maintaining and applying academic and educational standards, both in the
sense of specific expectations and requirements that should be complied with, and in the
sense of ideals of excellence that should be aimed at. These expectations and ideals may
differ from context to context, partly depending on the specific purposes pursued.
Applying the principle of quality entails evaluating services and products against set
standards, with a view to improvement, renewal or progress.
Effectiveness and efficiency
1.22 The principles of effectiveness and
efficiency are related though distinct. An effective system or institution functions in
such a way that it leads to desired outcomes or achieves desired objectives. An efficient
system or institution is one which works well, without unnecessary duplication or waste,
and within the bounds of affordability and sustainability. It does things correctly in
terms of making optimal use of available means.
Academic freedom
1.23 The principle of academic freedom
implies the absence of outside interference, censure or obstacles in the pursuit and
practice of academic work. It is a precondition for critical, experimental and creative
thought and therefore for the advancement of intellectual inquiry and knowledge. Academic
freedom and scientific inquiry are fundamental rights protected by the Constitution.
Institutional autonomy
1.24 The principle of institutional
autonomy refers to a high degree of self-regulation and administrative independence with
respect to student admissions, curriculum, methods of teaching and assessment, research,
establishment of academic regulations and the internal management of resources generated
from private and public sources. Such autonomy is a condition of effective
self-government. However, there is no moral basis for using the principle of institutional
autonomy as a pretext for resisting democratic change or in defence of mismanagement.
Institutional autonomy is therefore inextricably linked to the demands of public
accountability.
Public accountability
1.25 The principle of public accountability
implies that institutions are answerable for their actions and decisions not only to their
own governing bodies and the institutional community but also to the broader society.
Firstly, it requires that institutions receiving public funds should be able to report
how, and how well, money has been spent. Secondly, it requires that institutions should
demonstrate the results they achieve with the resources at their disposal. Thirdly, it
requires that institutions should demonstrate how they have met national policy goals and
priorities.
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GOALS
1.26 The principles outlined above
establish the steering mechanism for transformation of the higher education system. The
goals are key targets and outcomes that should be pursued in implementing the
transformation strategy.
1.27 At the national or system level the
goals are:
- To conceptualise, plan, govern and fund
higher education in South Africa as a single, co-ordinated system.
- To provide a full spectrum of advanced
educational opportunities for an expanding range of the population irrespective of race,
gender, age, creed or class or other forms of discrimination.
- To diversify the system in terms of the mix
of institutional missions and programmes that will be required to meet national and
regional needs in social, cultural and economic development.
- To facilitate horizontal and vertical
mobility by developing a framework for higher education qualifications which incorporates
adequate routes of articulation, as well as flexible entry and exit points.
- To improve the quality of teaching and
learning throughout the system and, in particular to ensure that curricula are responsive
to the national and regional context.
- To promote the development of a flexible
learning system, including distance education and resource-based learning based on open
learning principles.
- To secure and advance high-level research
capacity which can ensure both the continuation of self-initiated, open-ended intellectual
inquiry, and the sustained application of research activities to technological improvement
and social development.
- To promote and develop social responsibility
and awareness amongst students of the role of higher education in social and economic
development through community service programmes.
- To produce graduates with the skills and
competencies that build the foundations for lifelong learning, including, critical,
analytical, problem-solving and communication skills, as well as the ability to deal with
change and diversity, in particular, the tolerance of different views and ideas.
- To develop capacity-building measures to
facilitate a more representative staff component which is sensitive to local, national and
regional needs, and is committed to standards and ideals of creative and rigorous academic
work.
- To ensure transparent and cost-effective
management aimed at optimal use of available resources.
- To develop and implement funding mechanisms
in line with the principles outlined above and based on need, affordability,
sustainability and shared costs, and in support of the goals of the national higher
education plan.
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1.28 At the institutional level the goals
are:
- To transform and democratise the governance
structures of higher education. New structures should provide for co-operative
decision-making between separate but functionally interdependent stakeholders who
recognise their different identities, interests and freedoms, while pursuing the common
goal of a co-ordinated and participative polity and civil society.
- To encourage interaction through
co-operation and partnerships among institutions of higher education and between such
institutions and all sectors of the wider society.
- To promote human resource development
through programmes that are responsive to the social, political, economic and cultural
needs of the country and which meet the best standards of academic scholarship and
professional training.
- To establish an academic climate
characterised by free and open debate, critical questioning of prevailing orthodoxies and
experimentation with new ideas.
- To demonstrate social responsibility of
institutions and their commitment to the common good by making available expertise and
infrastructure for community service programmes.
- To encourage and build an institutional
environment and culture based on tolerance and respect.
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CHAPTER 2
STRUCTURE AND GROWTH
A SINGLE COORDINATED
SYSTEM
2.1 Higher education must be planned,
governed and funded as a single national co-ordinated system, in order to overcome the
fragmentation, inequality and inefficiency which are the legacy of the past, and
successfully address the present and future challenges of reconstruction and development.
This is a fundamental point of policy on which all stockholders in the higher education
system are agreed.
2.2 A key feature of a single co-ordinated
system will be the broadening of the social base of the higher education system in terms
of race, class, gender and age. The system will cater for a considerably more diverse body
of learners than at present. They will become increasingly representative, at all levels
of the system and in all programmes, of the racial and gender composition of the South
African population. Access for disabled learners will increase. The system will open its
doors, in the spirit of lifelong learning, to workers and professionals in pursuit of
multiskilling and reskilling, and adult learners whose access to higher education had been
thwarted in the past.
2.3 The structure and culture of the
present system are not well suited to accommodate the varying backgrounds, needs,
interests and abilities of the student body of the future, to enable them to realise their
potential, and contribute the necessary range and quality of knowledge, insight, skill and
capability to the development and reconstruction of our country. The system has no
alternative but to re-make itself in order to realise the vision and achieve the goals set
out in the previous chapter.
2.4 The most significant conceptual change
is that the single co-ordinated system will be premised on a programme-based definition of
higher education:
- Higher education comprises all learning
programmes leading to qualifications higher than the proposed Further Education and
Training Certificate or the current Standard 10 certificate.
2.5 A programme-based approach
- recognises that higher education takes place
in a multiplicity of institutions and sites of learning, using a variety of methods, and
attracting an increasingly diverse body of learners
- is fully compatible with all the functions
and integral components of higher education, which include learning and teaching,
scholarship and research, community development and extension services.
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2.6 A programme-based higher education
system which is planned, governed and funded as a single, coherent, national system will
enable many necessary changes to be undertaken.
- It will promote diversification of the
access, curriculum and qualification structure, with programmes developed and articulated
within the National Qualifications Framework (NQF), encouraging an open and flexible
system based on credit accumulation and multiple entry and exit points for learners. This
will remove obstacles which unnecessarily limit learners' access to programmes, and enable
proper academic recognition to be given for prior learning achieved, thus permitting
greater horizontal and vertical mobility by learners in the higher education system. It
would also break the grip of the traditional pattern of qualification based on sequential,
year-long courses in single disciplines.
- It will promote the development of a
flexible learning system, progressively encompassing the entire higher education sector,
with a diversity of institutional missions and programme mixes, a range of distant and
face-to-face delivery mechanisms and support systems, using appropriate, cost-effective
combinations of resource-based learning and teaching technologies.
- It will improve the responsiveness of the
higher education system to present and future social and economic needs, including labour
market trends and opportunities, the new relations between education and work, and in
particular, the curricular and methodological changes that flow from the information
revolution, the implications for knowledge production and the types of skills and
capabilities required to apply or develop the new technologies.
- It will require a system-wide and
institution-based planning process, and a responsive regulatory and funding system, which
will enable planned goals and targets to be pursued. The process will ensure that the
expansion of the system is responsibly managed and balanced in terms of the demand for
access, the need for redress and diversification, the human resource requirements of the
society and economy, and the limits of affordability and sustainability.
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PLANNING IN A SINGLE
CO-ORDINATED SYSTEM
2.7 At present, the size and shape of the
higher education system is determined by uncoordinated institutional decisions on student
enrolments and programme distribution. This is untenable in the context of fiscal
constraints and the need for greater responsiveness of the higher education system to the
national development agenda.
2.8 The development of a planning framework
and process at the system-wide and institutional levels is critical to ensuring that the
single co-ordinated system can successfully address the legacy of the past, respond to
national needs, link labour market opportunities and higher education outcomes, and
provide a more predictable and stable funding environment.
2.9 The key instruments in the planning
process will be the development of an overall national and institutional three-year
"rolling plans", indicative plans which facilitate the setting of objectives and
implementation targets that can be adjusted, updated and revised annually. A
participatory, multi-year planning process will avoid the inherent defects of the old
top-down central budgeting system. This is in line with the government's budget
development process as reflected in the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework. A three year
planning cycle, with data, resource estimates, targets and plans annually updated, enables
the planning of growth and change in higher education to be more flexible and responsive
to social and economic needs, including market signals (while avoiding the rigidity of
old-style "manpower planning"), permits adjustments to be made on the basis of
actual performance, and introduces greater predictability and hence stability into the
budget process.
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National higher education plan
2.10 The national higher education plan
will establish indicative targets for the size and shape of the system, overall growth and
participation rates, and institutional and programme mixes, which advance the vision,
principles and policy goals for the system. In particular, attention will focus on:
- establishing new programmes
- discouraging obsolete programmes
- building new capacities
- reshaping the institutional landscape
- promoting individual and institutional
redress and equity goals.
2.11 The national plan will provide the
framework within which institutional plans will be developed, and will in turn be
influenced by regional and institutional concerns and proposals. This inter-active process
will require entirely new consultative and negotiating processes, new databases and
considerably enhanced modelling and computing capacities, at the national, regional and
institutional levels.
2.12 The national plan will be developed by
the Department of Education after consultation and on the advice of the new statutory
advisory body, the Council on Higher Education (CHE).
Institutional plans
2.13 The three-year rolling institutional
plans, will be developed within the framework of the national plan, according to
procedures which will be negotiated between the Department of Education and the
institutions with the advice of the CHE.
2.14 Institutional plans will be expected
to include the mission of the institution, proposed programmes, indicative targets for
enrolment levels by programme, race and gender equity goals and proposed measures to
develop new programmes and human resource development plans and developmental plans for
new programmes. They will also include plans for academic development, research
development and infrastructural development.
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2.15 The Ministry will request the CHE to
advise on the criteria to be used to assess the suitability and sustainability of
institutional plans. In broad terms, there will have to be a fit between institutional
plans and national policy and goals, as well as consistency with institutional missions
and capacity.
2.16 In addition, emphasis will be placed
on regional reviews of institutional plans as an integral part of the national planning
process. This will be intended to promote regional co-ordination and collaboration as part
of the national plan enhance articulation of programmes, mobility of learners between
institutions, the sharing of resources, including scarce academic and technical staff,
library and information facilities. It is also intended to reduce programme duplication
and overlap. The Ministry will provide incentives to encourage and facilitate regional
planning and co-ordination.
2.17 In cases where there is a mismatch
between institutional plans and the national plan, adjustments to institutional plans will
be negotiated by the Department of Education with the relevant institutions.
2.18 The approval of institutional plans
will lead to the allocation of funded student places to institutions for approved
programmes in particular levels and fields of learning. Individual institutions will
determine student numbers for particular programmes within these levels and fields. They
would also have the option of running new programmes or augmenting state-funded programmes
from their own resources.
2.19 Institutional redress will play an
important role in the planning process to ensure that inherited inequalities between the
historically black and historically white institutions are not intensified, but
diminished. This will require the Department of Education and the CHE proactively
assisting institutions to develop planning capacity and appropriate institutional
missions, as well as ensuring that new programmes are appropriately located within the
existing institutional landscape. In this respect, redress funding will be allocated where
needed to enable institutions to offer the agreed programme mix in an effective manner.
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2.20 The planning process will also take
into account that the historically advantaged institutions will require additional
resources to deal with the learning needs of disadvantaged students as a result of the
changing composition of the student body, with large and increasing numbers of black
students enrolled in these institutions.
2.21 As each institution in the higher
education system clarifies its institutional mission based on appropriate programme
choices and combinations, as the body of learners diversifies, as the teaching, research
and management profiles become more representative of our people, as quality promotion and
quality assurance processes take hold, as the institutional landscape changes, as centres
of excellence are recognised and promoted across the system, the distinction between
historically advantaged and historically-disadvantaged will become less and less relevant.
EQUITY AND GROWTH
2.22 There is a clear case for the
expansion of the higher education system if it is to meet the imperatives of equity,
redress and development. According to the National Commission on Higher Education (NCHE),
the total number of African students at universities and technikons increased by an annual
average of 14% between 1986 and 1993, as against 0.4% for whites. However, the overall
participation rates, that is the percentage of the 20-24 age cohort enrolled in higher
education, which is the international norm adopted by UNESCO, continued to be
characterised by gross inequalities. In 1993, the overall participation rate in all
post-Standard ten programmes in public and private institutions was about 20 per cent.
However, the participation rate for white students was just under 70 per cent, while that
for African students was about 12 per cent (NCHE Report, 1996:64). Since 1993, such
disparities have significantly diminished, but they are still substantial, especially when
analysed on a programme basis, and by level of qualification.
2.23 What is not clear, however, is what
increases in participation rates for black students, and overall, are possible within the
foreseeable future in the context of the government's macro-economic framework and fiscal
policies. The Department of Education is developing a planning model that will provide
estimates of the cost of expanding the higher education system based on different
scenarios, based on a variety of growth estimates and taking into account demographic and
labour market indicators. After appropriate evaluation and consultation, the outcome of
this study will inform the development of the first national higher education plan.
2.24 The Ministry of Education is committed
to the planned expansion of the system. In this context, the twin goals of equity and
development can be achieved through:
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- ensuring that the composition of the student
body progressively reflects the demographic realities of the broader society. A major
focus of any expansion and equity strategy must be on increasing the participation and
success rates of black students in general, and of African, Coloured and women students in
particular, especially in programmes and levels in which they are underrepresented.
- expanding career-oriented programmes at all
levels, but in particular, in shorter cycle (one and two year) programmes at certificate
and diploma levels, and in science, engineering and technology programmes
- expanding enrolments in postgraduate
programmes at the masters and doctoral levels, to address the high-level skills necessary
for social and economic development and to provide for the needs of the academic labour
market
- expanding the range of programmes and
increasing enrolments based on open learning and distance education, especially for young
and older adults, with particular emphasis on women
2.25 The focus on science, engineering and
technology programmes is necessary to correct present imbalances, in particular, the
shortage of trained personnel in these fields. However, this will not diminish the
importance of programmes in the social sciences and humanities which contribute to
knowledge production, in particular, to the understanding of social and human development,
including social transformation. They also play an important role in career-oriented
training in a range of fields such as education, law, private and public sector
management, social development and the arts. In addition, in the context of the
communications and information revolution, the social sciences and humanities, as well as
the sciences and technologies, must contribute to the development of the analytic,
intellectual, cultural and ethical skills and competencies necessary for participation in
the knowledge society.
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EQUITY AND REDRESS
2.26 The Ministry of Education's commitment
to changing the composition of the student body will be effected through the targeted
redistribution of the public subsidy to higher education. The relative proportion of
public funding used to support academically able but disadvantaged students must be
increased.
2.27 In addition, in the present context of
limited real growth in public expenditure, making progress in achieving equity and redress
goals will require institutions, in turn, to mobilise greater private resources as well as
to reallocate their operating grants internally. This is already happening at many
institutions in response to the recent rapid increases in black student enrolments.
2.28 The Ministry will require institutions
to develop their own race and gender equity goals and plans for achieving them, using
indicative targets for distributing publicly subsidised places rather than firm quotas.
2.29 Ensuring equity of access must be
complemented by a concern for equity of outcomes. Increased access must not lead to a
'revolving door' syndrome for students, with high failure and drop-out rates. In this
respect, the Ministry is committed to ensuring that public funds earmarked for achieving
redress and equity must be linked to measurable progress toward improving quality and
reducing the high drop-out and repetition rates.
2.30 This highlights the need to attend to
the articulation gap between the demands of higher education programmes and the
preparedness of school leavers for academic study. The effects of Bantu education, the
chronic underfunding of black education during the apartheid era, and the effects of
repression and resistance on the culture of learning and teaching, have seriously
undermined the preparedness of talented black students for higher education.
2.31 The government has launched an
ambitious programme to transform the school system in the medium to long term, to remedy
the previous deficiencies and to improve the quality of school education. To cite
examples, the RDP Presidential Lead Projects, in particular the Primary School Nutrition
Programme and the National School Building Programme, attend to the environment of
learning, Curriculum 2005 will progressively introduce new outcomes-based learning
programmes throughout the school system, and the national Campaign on the Culture of
Learning, Teaching and Service seeks to empower communities, learners and educators to
reclaim learning institutions for their true purpose, and develop a growing solidarity of
all participants in the learning process around the disciplines and joys of learning,
teaching and service.
2.32 In the short to medium term, in order
to improve equity of outcomes, the higher education system is required to respond
comprehensively to the articulation gap between learners' school attainment and the
intellectual demands of higher education programmes. It will be necessary to accelerate
the provision of bridging and access programmes within further education, but the learning
deficits are so widespread that systematic changes in higher education programmes
(pedagogy, curriculum and the structure of degrees and diplomas) will continue to be
needed. The development and provision of student support services, including career
guidance, counselling and financial aid services, are other essential requirements. In
addition, an enabling environment must be created throughout the system to uproot
deep-seated racist and sexist ideologies and practices that inflame relationships, inflict
emotional scars and create barriers to successful participation in learning and campus
life. Only a multi-faceted approach can provide a sound foundation of knowledge, concepts,
academic, social and personal skills, and create the culture of respect, support and
challenge on which self-confidence, real learning and enquiry can thrive.
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2.33 Thus academic development structures
and programmes are needed at all higher education institutions to promote the development
of teaching skills, curricula, courseware and student support services as a mainstream
programme development.
2.34 The Ministry will ensure that the new
funding formula for higher education responds to such needs for academic development
programmes including, where necessary, extended curricula. Such programmes will be given
due weight and status as integral elements of a higher education system committed to
redress and to improving the quality of learning and teaching.
2.35 The Ministry, in co-operation with the
CHE, through its Higher Education Quality Committee, will initiate a thorough review of
the structure and duration of degree, diploma and certificate programmes, aimed at
achieving a more appropriate fit between the school, or (more broadly) further education
and training, and higher education systems. The review will necessarily entail an
assessment of the broad curriculum in higher education in terms of content, relevance,
design and delivery.
2.36 The Ministry is highly receptive to
the growing interest in community service programmes for students, to harness the social
commitment and energy of young people to the needs of the Reconstruction and Development
Programme, and as a potential component of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme
(NSFAS). The Ministry will consult the CHE and the National Youth Commission on this
matter. In principle, the Ministry will encourage suitable feasibility studies and pilot
programmes which explore the potential of community service
- to answer the call of young people for
constructive social engagement
- to enhance the Culture of Learning, Teaching
and Service in higher education, and
- to relieve some of the financial burden of
study at this level.
[ Top ]
RESTRUCTURING AND
DIVERSIFICATION
Institutional landscape
2.37 The Ministry of Education favours an
integrated and co-ordinated system of higher education, but not a uniform system. An
important task in planning and managing a single national co-ordinated system is to ensure
diversity in its organisational form and in the institutional landscape, and offset
pressures for homogenisation. Such pressures exist at present, and will intensify as the
demand for higher education places escalates, and as the system responds to the
acknowledged needs to widen access and diversify the curriculum.
2.38 The risk the Ministry wishes to avoid
is a laissez-faire proliferation of higher education programmes by an increasing range of
providers, without benefit of a planning framework and without adequate safeguards to
ensure the quality of provision. This would almost certainly result in the unplanned
blurring of institutional roles and functions, and, given resource constraints, a strong
tendency to over-provide low-cost programmes in low-priority curriculum areas.
2.39 The homogenising pressures, and risks
of lowest-common-denominator expansion, can be avoided by
- recognising the broad function and mission
of universities, technikons and colleges as three types of institutions offering higher
education programmes
- insisting on a rigorous planning and
screening process for the approval of publicly-funded programmes, which must serve the
mission and goals of the system, and
- rigorous quality control of providers.
2.40 The three institutional types will not
continue to be regarded as discrete sectors with mutually exclusive missions and programme
offerings. What the Ministry seeks is an easing of the boundaries between colleges,
technikons, and universities. This should facilitate a recognition of the scope for
collaboration on the basis of common purposes and mutual interests, and of their
distinctive roles.
2.41 The precise mix of programmes offered
at particular institutions will be determined in the planning process on the basis of the
fit between the institution's proposed programme mix and regional and national needs, as
well as an assessment of current institutional missions and capacities. Such an assessment
will include assessing the need for an institution to develop or elaborate its mission,
and the need for capacity-building strategies to redress the imbalances and distortions
inherited from apartheid.
2.42 The programme-based approach to
planning and development, by ensuring greater articulation between the different sectors
of the higher education system, promoting flexibility and diversity in the range of
programmes offered, and fostering co-operation between institutions, will result in
structural changes and a reconfiguration of the institutional landscape in the medium to
long-term.
2.43 The Ministry of Education encourages
the development of regional consortia and partnerships involving a range of higher
education institutions. They offer wide scope for collaboration in:
- developing and delivering programmes,
including the production of courseware
- reducing the overlap and duplication of
programme provision
- refocusing the institutional culture and
missions of both Historically White Institutions (HWIs) and Historically Black
Institutions (HBIs) within the national system
- helping build academic and administrative
capacity where it is needed, especially in HBIs, and
- enhancing responsiveness to regional and
national needs, for academic programmes, research, and community service.
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2.44 The deeper import of such regional
collaboration is that, by transcending the current divides in the system, it is a
harbinger of new institutional and organisational forms.
2.45 A vital task, which the Ministry will
undertake in collaboration with the CHE, is to assess the optimal number and type of
institutions needed to meet the goals of a transformed higher education system. Many
institutions either require consolidation or retooling for new missions and goals. Narrow
self-interest cannot be allowed to preclude planning which may lead to institutional
mergers and closures, and the development of new institutional forms where these are
necessary. The new planning and governance systems will enable appropriate investigations
to be undertaken, and consultation at national, regional and local levels. The Minister
will then be in a position to make informed decisions on these matters in terms of the
Higher Education Act.
Colleges
2.46 The Ministry is committed to ensuring
that the integration of colleges into the higher education system will allow a range of
organisational models to evolve based on regional and national needs, sound educational
practice, and efficiency and cost-effectiveness criteria.
2.47 Access to higher education will be
improved by a planned expansion of college-based programmes in targeted fields, especially
access and foundation programmes. Colleges will also be expected to encourage a wider
range of career-oriented education and training that is more relevant to the changing
structure of employment and social and economic needs. The flexibility provided by the NQF
will ensure that students choosing college programmes are not precluded from pursuing more
advanced study elsewhere, leading to degrees.
2.48 At present, higher education
programmes are offered by a range of publicly funded post-secondary colleges, including
colleges of education, nursing, agriculture, veterinary, forestry, police and military
colleges.
2.49 In terms of the constitutional
provision that tertiary education is an exclusive national competence (Schedule 4 of the
Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, Act No. 108 of 1996), the Ministry is
advised that all higher education colleges fall under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of
Education. They will be planned, governed and funded as part of the single co-ordinated
higher education system.
2.50 The colleges listed in 2.48 will in
the interim, continue to be administered, controlled and funded by the departments under
whose jurisdiction they presently fall. This will ensure stability while their future
location is decided. The Ministry has opened discussions with the affected line ministries
at both the national and provincial levels, and will institute a comprehensive review of
the colleges in consultation with all stakeholders to determine their future role and
location.
2.51 The Minister of Education will,
however, discharge his constitutional responsibility to determine and monitor national
policy with regard to all colleges that offer higher education programmes, and in
particular to ensure that the necessary accreditation and quality assurance mechanisms are
in place.
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2.52 The colleges of education were
previously a provincial responsibility and continue currently to be administered at the
provincial level. They are now a national competence and their transfer to the national
level will be transacted with the provincial ministries through the mechanism of the
Council of Education Ministers (CEM) and the Heads of Education Departments Committee
(HEDCOM).
2.53 Technical colleges, which primarily
offer post-compulsory education programmes constitute part of the core of the proposed
further education sector, whose institutional configuration, governance, funding and
programme base is presently under investigation by the National Committee on Further
Education and Training. They will therefore continue to be administered at the provincial
level. However, it is expected that they will continue to offer higher education
programmes in targeted fields, including access and bridging or foundation programmes and
the existing technician-level higher education programmes (N4-N6). This will be subject to
the planning and funding criteria and processes of the integrated higher education system.
Private institutions
2.54 There is a relatively well-established
private higher education sector in South Africa, offering programmes under franchise from
professional institutes or from local and international universities, and in some cases
under their own auspices. The programmes offered range from certificates and diplomas in
fields such as human resource development, business administration, communications and
information technology (in particular, computing), to tuition leading to degrees awarded
by UNISA and universities based abroad. In 1995, according to the NCHE, there were some
150 000 learners enrolled in such programmes (NCHE Report 1996:159).
2.55 The Ministry recognises that private
provision plays an important role in expanding access to higher education, in particular,
in niche areas, through responding to labour market opportunities and student demand. The
key challenge in expanding the role of private institutions is to create an environment
which neither suffocates educationally sound and sustainable private institutions with
state over-regulation, nor allows a plethora of poor quality, unsustainable 'fly by night'
operators into the higher education market.
2.56 A regulatory framework will be
established under the Higher Education Act, to ensure that only private institutions with
the necessary infrastructure and resources to provide and sustain quality higher education
programmes will be registered. Such programmes will need to be accredited through
procedures established by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) as part of the
NQF.
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Distance education and resource-based
learning
2.57 Distance education and resource-based
learning, based on the principles of open learning, have a crucial role to play in meeting
the challenge to expand access, diversify the body of learners, and enhance quality, in a
context of resource constraint. They enable learning to take place in different contexts,
at a multiplicity of sites, at the learner's own pace, using many media and a variety of
learning and teaching approaches.
2.58 In addition, the development of
resource-based learning throughout the higher education system means that the quality and
success of teaching need not be dependent upon staff levels rising in tandem with
increased enrolments. In other words, by achieving a national framework of flexible
learning, better use can be made of scarce and costly physical resources, scholarship and
teaching expertise.
2.59 Distance education and resource-based
learning are particularly appropriate for learners who are already in employment, or who
need to earn in order to meet study costs. Many of these learners will offer prior
learning and experience of an unconventional kind, and distance education and
resource-based providers are ideally placed to pioneer the evaluation of prior learning
and experience for access purposes.
2.60 Distance education and resource-based
learning are well placed for expansion given the existing infrastructure in these fields,
in both the public and private sectors. Clearly, expansion cannot take place without
additional investment, especially in learning technology, staff development and student
support. However, just as other parts of the higher education system have many
deficiencies, the Ministry of Education is concerned about the efficiency, appropriateness
and effectiveness of much current distance education provision. There is considerable
evidence of self-examination and change among distance education providers, but major
transformation requirements are still far from being met in many institutions, and there
is still considerable work to do to re-focus institutional missions, modernise courseware,
improve student support, and undertake essential efficiency reforms and cost-effective
planning, so that the quality of provision and performance is improved.
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2.61 The Ministry supports the development
of a national network of centres of innovation in course design and development, as this
would enable the development and franchising of well-designed, quality and cost-effective
learning resources and courses, building on the expertise and experience of top quality
scholars and educators in different parts of the country.
2.62 In addition, contact and distance
education institutions will be encouraged to provide effective and flexible learning
environments on a continuum of educational provision, in which educators will be able to
select from an increasing range of educational methods and technologies those that are
most appropriate to the context within which they operate. This development, together with
a regional network of learning centres, will not only broaden access, but also facilitate
and enhance quality education, especially in rural areas and less well-endowed urban
institutions.
2.63 In summary, distance education and
resource-based learning approaches have huge potential for integrating lifelong learning
into the basic shape and structure of higher education, and increasing access by learners
to quality programmes. The Ministry of Education is committed to help harness the new
teaching and learning technologies, especially through its technology enhanced learning
initiative (TELI).
2.64 The viability of creating a coherent
national framework for facilitating distance education and resource-based learning
throughout the higher education system needs a nationally-sponsored study. The
investigation must include a comprehensive audit of existing public and private distance
education and resource-based learning provision, in terms of programme quality,
cost-efficiency and effectiveness, in order to assess strengths and weaknesses. The
outcome should be a clear agenda for improvement, and guidance on future policy, planning
and investment. The Ministry will appoint a Task Team to undertake this investigation, in
collaboration with the CHE, after appropriate consultation with the distance education and
resource-based learning community.
[ Top ]
A QUALIFICATIONS
FRAMEWORK FOR HIGHER EDUCATION
2.65 Separate and parallel qualification
structures for universities, technikons and colleges have hindered articulation and
transfer between institutions and programmes, both horizontally and vertically. The
impermeability of multi-year degree and diploma programmes is a further obstacle to
mobility and progression. This is clearly untenable in the light of the new NQF and the
programme-based approach to higher education, which is premised on enhancing horizontal
and vertical mobility through flexible entry and exit qualifications.
2.66 The Ministry endorses the principle
that a single qualifications framework should be developed for all higher education
qualifications in line with the NQF. In principle, the framework should comprise a
laddered set of qualifications at higher education certificate, diploma and degree levels,
including intermediate exit qualifications within multi-year qualifications. In addition,
all higher education programmes, national or institutional, should be registered on the
NQF, minimally at the exit level of whole qualifications.
2.67 The incorporation of academic
qualifications within a national framework is not a straightforward matter and, quite
properly, it has been the subject of intense debate. SAQA has determined that both unit
standards and whole qualifications may be presented for registration on the NQF. This
should meet the serious concern among many academic staff that unit standard methodology,
and the construction of qualifications from multiple units of learning, are inappropriate
foundations for certain academic programmes. The Ministry is confident that other issues
of concern to the higher education system in the development of the NQF can be
satisfactorily resolved within the relevant SAQA structures.
2.68 The establishment of SAQA with the
full and active participation of higher education providers was a milestone and puts the
evolution of the NQF in South Africa in the forefront of such systems world-wide.
A QUALITY ASSURANCE
SYSTEM FOR HIGHER EDUCATION
2.69 The primary responsibility for quality
assurance rests with higher education institutions. However, there is an important role
for an umbrella national authority responsible for quality promotion and assurance
throughout the system.
2.70 Accordingly, the Higher Education Act
will provide for the co-ordination of quality assurance in higher education through a
Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC) which will be established as a permanent
committee of the CHE. The establishment of the HEQC, its registration with SAQA and its
modus operandi will be determined by the CHE within the framework and procedural
guidelines developed by SAQA..
2.71 The functions of the HEQC will include
programme accreditation, institutional auditing and quality promotion. It should operate
within an agreed framework underpinned by:
- the formulation of criteria and procedures
in consultation with higher education institutions
- a formative notion of quality assurance,
focused on improvement and development rather than punitive sanction
- a mix of institutional self-evaluation and
external independent assessment.
[ Top ]
ADMISSION AND
SELECTION PROCEDURES
2.72 The Ministry is committed to ensuring
that the minimum statutory requirement for entry into all higher education programmes will
in future be a pass in the proposed Further Education and Training Certificate (FETC).
Institutions will continue to have the right to determine entry requirements as
appropriate beyond the statutory minimum. However, in exercising this right, they should
ensure that selection criteria are sensitive to the educational backgrounds of potential
learners, and incorporate the recognition of prior learning which is an essential concept
in the elaboration of the NQF.
2.73 The NQF provides for different
routes--formal schooling, adult basic education and training and recognition of prior
learning, or a combination of these--for obtaining the proposed FETC. However, many able,
mature applicants for standard-entry and open learning programmes may not have had the
chance to fulfil all the requirements for the FETC. The Ministry strongly supports
developmental work and pilot projects which will help institutions to develop criteria to
assess applicants' prior learning and experience, so that those with clear potential to
succeed in higher education can be admitted.
2.74 In the period prior to the full
operationalisation of the NQF and the introduction of the FETC, the existing matriculation
requirements will remain in force, but the policy directions in 2.67 and 2.68 are just as
applicable in the interim.
2.75 A National Higher Education
Information and Admission Service (with regional centres) will be established to
facilitate the administration of student applications, satisfy the information needs of
applicants, and provide careers guidance, including information on labour market trends.
2.76 The Ministry recognises that
establishing a national service of this sort will pose considerable problems of design and
implementation, and it is therefore unlikely to be in operation in the short term.
Accordingly, the Ministry favours regional initiatives that will serve as pilot programmes
for a national service. The regional consortia and the CHE will have important roles in
advising on their development.
[ Top ]
LANGUAGE POLICY
2.77 The Constitution gives full
recognition to the fact that South Africa is a multilingual country, and multilinguism is
a prime objective of national language policy in general and further education, as
determined by the Minister in terms of the South African Schools Act, 1996. South Africa's
rich language inheritance offers many opportunities and challenges to the higher education
sector, but thus far there has been no national policy framework within which the higher
education institutions could establish their own institutional language policies and
programmes, and which would enable the Ministry of Education to lend support to the
achievement of national language goals.
2.78 The creation of an authoritative and
representative Council on Higher Education will enable the higher education sector to take
collective responsibility for investigating the language situation in higher education
institutions and offering advice on language policy to the Ministry of Education. This
matter is sufficiently urgent that the Ministry will request the Council to advise on the
development of a national language framework for higher education as an integral component
of the first national higher education plan. In doing so, the Council will be expected to
seek the advice and collaboration of the Pan South African Language Board.
2.79 The new national framework will be
founded on the constitutional language provisions, the vision, mission, principles and
goals for higher education described in chapter 1, and the final report of the Language
Plan Task Group (LANGTAG), Towards a National Language Plan for South Africa (1996). The
policy framework will need to address the following questions:
- the language or languages of learning
(medium or mediums of instruction) in higher education institutions, bearing in mind the
fundamental right of persons to receive education in the official language or languages of
their choice in public educational institutions, where it is reasonably practicable to do
so, and the duty of the state to ensure effective access to and implementation of this
right (section 29(2) of the Constitution)
- the language or languages of communication
within higher education institutions
- the role of higher education in promoting,
and creating conditions for the development of, all South African languages, including the
official languages, the Khoi, Nama and San languages, and Sign Language, and in elevating
the status and advancing the use of the indigenous languages of our people
- the role of higher education in preparing
sufficient language teachers, interpreters, translators and other language practitioners,
to serve the needs of our multilingual society
- the role of higher education in promoting
the language-based arts.
- the role of higher education in preparing
South Africans for effective linguistic communication with the rest of Africa and the
world in the fields of culture, diplomacy, science and business.
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2.80 Once the national higher education
language policy framework is approved, after full consultation, it will be given effect
through the three-year rolling national higher education plan and the respective
institutional plans, through which the public funding of higher education institutions
will be negotiated.
2.81 Higher education institutions will be
empowered, in terms of the Higher Education Act, to determine their institutional language
policies, subject to the Constitution. In their institutional plans, they will have the
opportunity to demonstrate how their institutional language policies will contribute to
the achievement of the goals of the national higher education language policy framework.
RESEARCH
2.82 The production, advancement and
dissemination of knowledge and the development of high-level human resources are core
functions of the higher education system. Research plays a key role in both these
functions. It is the principal tool for creating new knowledge. The dissemination of
knowledge through teaching and collaboration in research tasks are the principal tools for
developing academic and research staff through postgraduate study and training.
2.83 The current capacity, distribution and
outcomes of research in the higher education system are cause for concern. In particular:
- there is insufficient articulation between
the different elements of the research system, and between the research system and
national needs for social, economic, cultural and intellectual reconstruction
- there is insufficient research capacity in
higher education, and existing capacity is poorly co-ordinated and not adequately linked
to postgraduate studies
- there are stark race and gender imbalances
in the demographic composition of researchers in higher education, research councils, and
private sector research establishments
- the distribution of research capacity in
higher education institutions is skewed: under apartheid, the development of research
capacity in black universities was severely limited, and the HDIs have only recently
integrated research into their core functions; and a research mandate has only in recent
years been included in the institutional mission of technikons.
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2.84 At the same time, the nature of the
research enterprise has undergone radical change through:
the development of multiple sites of
research and knowledge production which are partly or wholly separated from higher
education, including industrial laboratories, corporate research units, parastatals,
statutory research councils, and NGOs, or through collaboration among these research
organisations
- the impact of transdisciplinary and
transinstitutional research
- new forms of communication--the information
highway--which have accelerated and widened access to data and research findings.
2.85 The accountability processes that flow
from the changing nature of the research enterprise are much wider than those associated
with traditional research in the higher education system. The outcomes of research are not
only measured by traditional tools such as peer-reviews, but also by a broader range of
indicators such as national development needs, industrial innovation and community
development.
2.86 In South Africa today, therefore, the
research system faces two main challenges. It must redress past inequalities and
strengthen and diversify research capacity. It must also keep abreast with the emerging
global trends, especially, the development of participatory and applications-driven
research addressing critical national needs, which requires collaboration between
knowledge producers, knowledge interpreters and knowledge managers and implementers.
2.87 This has far-reaching implications for
higher education, if it is to maintain and strengthen its pre-eminent role in the national
research system and contribute to reconstruction and development. It needs to broaden its
capacity to undertake research across the full spectrum, that is, traditional or basic
research, application-driven research, strategic research, and participation-based
research, in partnership with other stakeholders in the national research system.
2.88 There are encouraging developments in
this direction which need to be further enhanced, such as the Technology and Human
Resources for Industry Programme (THRIP) which comprises a partnership between higher
education institutions, business, industry and government. THRIP aims to develop the
competitiveness of South African industry, small and large, through the development of
skills in science, engineering and technology.
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2.89 The capacity of the national research
system to develop innovative projects that cut across the research spectrum is critically
dependent on the continued growth and development of traditional or basic research within
the higher education system. The importance of traditional or basic research must be
underscored, as it is crucial in nurturing a national intellectual culture, generating
high-level and discipline-specific human resources, and providing opportunities for
keeping in touch with international scientific developments--all of which facilitates
innovation. The higher education system is, in fact, an integral component of the National
System of Innovation (NSI) described in the White Paper on Science and Technology (1996).
2.90 Strengthening the role of higher
education in the national research system requires increasing current research capacity,
protecting current research resources, finding new sources of research funding, and using
all these resources more effectively. In addition, existing research capacity, in
particular the nation's centres of research excellence, must be sustained, and essential
new centres created, despite the pressures of numerical expansion, diversification and
budget stringency.
2.91 The Ministry of Education therefore
supports the following measures:
- The development of a national research plan
which will identify national priorities for research and postgraduate training, processes
for the identification and establishment of centres of excellence and niche areas, targets
and performance indicators to achieve redress by developing a more representative research
community, and incentives for collaboration and partnerships, especially at the regional
level, in research and postgraduate training. The National Research and Technology Audit
and the Research and Technology Foresight, currently being undertaken by the Department of
Arts, Culture, Science and Technology (DACST) and the Industry Cluster Studies
currently-being conducted by the Department of Industry (DTI), will provide valuable
resources in the development of a national research plan. For its part, the Ministry will
request the CHE, in conjunction with the National Research Foundation (NRF), to provide
early advice on the current state and future needs of research infrastructure and
capacity, including institutional redress in the higher education system.
- Greater articulation and co-ordination of
research activities and funding between different government departments and the Science
Councils. In the case of the Department of Education and DACST, such articulation is given
concrete expression by recognising the concurrent competencies of the two ministers in the
establishment of the proposed NRF and recognising DACST, in the case of non-voting members
and the NRF as stakeholders for purposes of nomination to the CHE.
- Increasing the proportion of private and
public funding of research and development expenditure that is spent in higher education,
through fostering partnerships between the relevant government departments, science
councils, higher education institutions, NGOs and the private sector.
- Targeted expansion of the institutional base
for research through redress funding for the HDIs, in line with national priorities and
the overall development of an expanded and diverse higher education system. Earmarked
funds for the development of the research capacity at technikons will also be considered.
- Prioritising access of black and women
students to masters, doctoral and postdoctoral programmes, and designing a human resource
development plan for higher education.
- The development of appropriate funding
mechanisms (described in chapter 4).
[ Top ]
CAPACITY BUILDING AND
HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
2.92 The successful development of a single
co-ordinated system requires more than a commitment to transformation. It is critically
dependent on building and enhancing capacity in all spheres--academic, management,
governance and infrastructural--to give effect to new policies and to ensure the efficient
functioning of the expanded and transformed higher education system. In particular,
attention will be paid to:
- management, including the management of
change, leadership and strategic planning at institutional and national levels
- co-operative governance of the system at all
levels
- development of Student Representative
Councils
- development and maintenance of a management
information system for higher education
- quality teaching and learning in the context
of an expanded and diverse system
- promotion of research
- provision of administrative, infrastructural
(including library and information technology) and other support for teaching, learning
and research.
2.93 The Ministry recognises that while
higher education institutions are primarily responsible for capacity-building, there is a
need for national initiatives to facilitate and support institutional and regional
capacity-building programmes. The Department of Education, in collaboration with the CHE,
will develop a policy framework and funding mechanisms to support and promote
institutional, regional and national capacity building programmes. These will be require
partnerships between higher education institutions, NGOs, the private sector and
international agencies, with support from the Department of Education.
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2.94 Human resource development for the
higher education system is particularly important. Unlike the changing student profile,
especially in undergraduate programmes, the composition of staff in higher education fails
to reflect demographic realities. Black people and women are severely underrepresented,
especially in senior academic and management positions.
2.95 The Ministry recognises that the
barriers to access are complex and that the building of human resource capacity poses the
dual challenges of equity and development. The problem is broader than the redress of the
apartheid legacy. In the case of women, it reflects deeply embedded sexist ideologies that
cut across race and class, An enabling environment is needed which overcomes the social
constraints that impede the mobility of women. These include inadequate or absent
child-care facilities and inadequate maternity benefits.
2.96 Institutions will be required to
submit human resource development plans, including equity goals, as part of their
three-year rolling plans. HRD plans will need to include:
- staff recruitment and promotion policies and
practices
- staff development, including academic
development, that is improved qualifications, professional development and career pathing,
instructional (teaching) development, management skills, technological reskilling, and
appropriate organisational environment and support
- remuneration and conditions of service,
taking into account the increasing competition from the public and private sectors for
well-qualified black people, and women
- reward systems, including sabbaticals,
conference attendance, academic contact visits, and
- the transformation of institutional cultures
to support diversity.
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CHAPTER 3
GOVERNANCE
TRANSFORMATION
3.1 The transformation of the structures,
values and culture of governance is a necessity, not an option, for South African higher
education. Higher education institutions are vital participants in the massive changes
which our society is undergoing, and in the intellectual, economic and cultural challenges
of the new world order. For the first time in their history, our higher education
institutions have the opportunity to achieve their full potential, but they will not do so
until their system of governance reflects and strengthens the values and practices of our
new democracy. Furthermore, wholly transformed governance arrangements are needed to chart
and steer the development of a single, integrated national system of higher education. The
transformation of governance in the national system and its institutions is therefore a
fundamental policy commitment of the Ministry of Education.
A MODEL OF GOVERNANCE
3.2 Governance arrangements reflect values
about the distribution and exercise of authority, responsibility and accountability. The
Ministry is well aware that governance in higher education institutions continues to be
characterised by struggles for control, lack of consensus and even conflict over differing
interpretations of higher education transformation. Among employers, past students,
parents, and other members of the wider community, many different views and expectations
about higher education abound. Among those currently involved directly in the process of
higher education--in particular, students, academic staff, administrative staff, service
staff, and institutional managers--there are often competing views and priorities which
give rise to tensions and sometimes to turmoil.
3.3 Good governance must be based on a
recognition of the existence of such different interests and the inevitability of
contestation among them, and must therefore create structures and encourage processes
which enable differences to be negotiated in participative and transparent ways.
Successful negotiation and co-operative practice depend on the parties reaching agreement
about the mission of the institution and their joint responsibilities toward it.
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3.4 Both local and international experience
confirm the importance of governments working co-operatively with institutions of civil
society in a spirit of partnership and mutual dependence. The challenges of modern
societies cannot be met by either party acting alone. Thus our model of governance must be
interactive.
3.5 At the same time, our democratically
elected government has a mandate from its electorate and is responsible to Parliament for
ensuring that the mandate is fulfilled. Ministers have a duty to provide leadership. When
all the appropriate investigations and consultations have been completed, a Minister must
decide, and must take responsibility for the consequences of the decision.
3.6 In this spirit, recognising the need to
transcend the adversarial relations between state and civil society arising from the
apartheid era, the Ministry of Education adopts a model of co-operative governance for
higher education in South Africa based on the principle of autonomous institutions working
co-operatively with a proactive government and in a range of partnerships.
3.7 Co-operative governance assumes a
proactive, guiding and constructive role for government. It also assumes a co-operative
relationship between the state and higher education institutions. One implication of this
is, for example, that institutional autonomy is to be exercised in tandem with public
accountability. Another is that the Ministry's oversight role does not involve
responsibility for the micro-management of institutions. A third implication is that the
Ministry will undertake its role in a transparent manner.
3.8 The Ministry will drive the
transformation of the higher education system through policies and strategies that are
guided by this view of the role of the government and its relationship to institutions of
higher education.
3.9 The White Paper on Education and
Training of 1995 affirmed the Ministry's commitment to uphold 'both the tradition and the
legal basis of autonomous governance' of higher education institutions. The Ministry
reaffirms its commitment to academic freedom and institutional autonomy within the
framework of public accountability as fundamental tenets of higher education and key
conditions for a vibrant system.
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GOVERNANCE AT SYSTEM
LEVEL
3.10 To give effect to the transformation
of higher education in the spirit of co-operative governance, the Ministry will enhance
the capacity of the Higher Education Branch of the Department of Education, establish a
Council on Higher Education (CHE), and enable reform of the governing structures of higher
education institutions. These measures will provide opportunities for organised
constituencies to express and negotiate their concerns, and will permit the government and
the representative governance structures of the higher education sector to plan and
transact the transformation and development of the system in an orderly way.
Legislative framework
3.11 The legislative framework of higher
education will be established by the Higher Education Act, 1997, which establishes the
legal basis of a single, national higher education system on the basis of the rights and
freedoms of our democratic Constitution. The Higher Education Act replaces the
Universities Act, 1995 (Act No. 61 of 1955), the Tertiary Education Act, 1988 (Act No. 66
of 1988), and the Technikons Act, 1993 (Act No. 125 of 1993). However, the Bill leaves
intact the private university acts, which represent a legacy of the colonial and
Commonwealth tradition of university governance.
3.12 In the view of the Ministry of
Education, the continued existence of private university acts does not enhance the
achievement of an integrated higher education system. In fact, it is anomalous, since
neither technikons nor colleges will be governed in terms of private acts, nor has there
been any suggestion that private acts should become the pattern of institutional
governance for such institutions. The universities alone have private acts, and such acts
may be amended by Parliament only at the instance of the respective university council.
The process is cumbersome and, in a time of rapid institutional transformation, it may
also be retrogressive.
3.13 It may be thought by some that the
repeal of private university acts would constitute an assault on institutional autonomy.
In the Ministry's view, this is not so, any more than the absence of private technikon or
college acts presently constitute an assault on their institutional liberties.
Institutional autonomy, for all higher education institutions, will be guaranteed by the
Higher Education Act, within the context of public accountability, as discussed in this
document. The Act is a framing measure, drawn in broad terms. It will provide that each
institution is governed in terms of its own institutional statutes, where its distinct
character and pattern of governance will be spelled out.
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3.14 The Ministry of Education will request
the Council on Higher Education to investigate and consult upon this matter and provide
advice on the desirability or otherwise of perpetuating private university acts, in the
absence of such private acts for technikons and colleges.
The Council on Higher Education (CHE)
3.15 The Council on Higher Education will
be a major statutory body established to provide independent, strategic advice to the
Minister of Education on matters relating to the transformation and development of higher
education in South Africa, and to manage quality assurance and quality promotion in the
higher education sector.
3.16 The CHE will be supported by its own
professional secretariat, headed by the Executive Officer, and will control its own
operating budget.
3.17 The chairperson and most members of
the CHE will be appointed by the Minister after a process of public nomination. The
membership, taken as a whole, must be as representative as possible of the main
stakeholder interests in the higher education system, and must be capable of providing
advice of high quality to the Minister based on thorough research and consultation. The
following criteria will therefore guide the Minister's appointment of the membership of
the CHE:
- balance of stakeholder interests and
expertise
- racial and gender representivity
- deep knowledge and understanding of higher
education
- understanding of the role of higher
education in reconstruction and development
- known and attested commitment to the
interests of higher education.
3.18 The Minister will appoint the
chairperson and members of the CHE in terms of the provisions of the Higher Education Act,
which will specify the number of members to be appointed and their terms of office.
Although most members will have been nominated by stakeholder bodies, they will be
appointed to the CHE in their personal capacities, and will be expected to apply their
minds to the interests of the whole sector, as well as their own particular field of
experience. The Minister will consider nominations made by at least the following
organisations or bodies:
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- national organisations representing students
- national bodies representing academicstaff
- national bodies representing non-academic
staff
- national bodies representing university
principals
- national bodies representing technikon
principals
- national bodies representing principals of
colleges of education
- national bodies representing other higher
education colleges
- national bodies representing private
institution principals
- national bodies representing the Further
Education sector
- national bodies representing organised
business
- national bodies representing organised
labour
- the National Research Foundation
- the South African Qualifications Authority
3.19 The Minister may also appoint other
members of the CHE, including persons external to the higher education sector from among
persons nominated by the public, on account of their particular expertise.
3.20 Additional members may be co-opted by
the CHE on account of their experience and expertise.
3.21 Non-voting members may be nominated by
- the Director-General: Education
- the provincial heads of education
- the Director-General: Arts, Culture, Science
and Technology
- the Director-General: Labour.
3.22 An Executive Committee chaired by the
Chairperson will guide the affairs of the CHE and direct the work of the Executive
Officer.
3.23 The CHE will be required to provide
relevant, timely and independent advice on matters concerning the condition and
development of higher education. The Minister will receive advice on any other matters
that the CHE deems necessary to advise about and specific matters referred by the Minister
from time to time. The Ministry will be looking to the Council to play a leading strategic
role in the envisaged transformation of the system, consistent with the vision and goals
set out in Chapter 1.
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3.24 The Minister will consult the CHE in
the context of the principles and goals outlined in chapter one, on the planning of the
national higher education system, major changes to the policy framework affecting the
development of the higher education system, such as policy regarding public and private
financing and provision, the level and distribution of public subsidies to higher
education, forms of student financial assistance, language policy and policy affecting the
development of the higher education sub-sectors.
3.25 In particular, the CHE will be
responsible for advising the Minister on:
- the mission, needs and priorities, scale and
shape of the higher education system, including the national and institutional plans,
taking into account national economic and social requirements, student demand, demography,
regional and national human resource needs, teaching and learning technologies and the
availability of public and private resources
- the ways in which new learning, teaching and
communication technologies should be harnessed in order to achieve improved integration,
equity, cost-effectiveness and quality in the national higher education system
- the research capacity and performance of the
system, including postgraduate training and research infrastructure and ways of developing
research strength in historically disadvantaged institutions a alanguage policy,
especially the development of languages as academic languages at higher education
institutions
- the governance of higher education
institutions and the higher education system a athe policies, principles and criteria that
should govern the allocation of public funds among higher education providers
- the policies and mechanisms for student
support and academic development throughout the system and in particular for assisting
educationally disadvantaged students to begin and complete programmes
- the policies and regulatory frameworks that
should govern the private provision of higher education
- the promotion of the quality of the system
and quality improvement among individual providers and programmes including the principles
and procedures that should govern their accreditation in terms of the South African
Qualifications Authority Act, 1995 (No. 58 of 1995)
- the qualifications structure of higher
education, as part of the National Qualifications Framework a athe extent and adequacy of
cross-sectoral linkages, including articulation of programmes between schooling, further
education and training, and higher education, procedures for the recognition of prior
learning, and the portability of credits and qualifications in terms of the National
Qualifications Framework
- the performance of the system, having regard
to available performance indicators, to identify where efficiency gains have been made and
need to be made a aregional collaboration among providers, and other options for
rationalisation of the system, and where appropriate, the merger or closure of
institutions, the re-classification of institutions and the establishment of institutions
- progress being made towards achieving
national equity and human resource development goals and measures to overcome impediments
to achieving transformation goals.
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3.26 The CHE will be required to prepare
annually a report to the Minister on the overall condition of the higher education system.
This report will be tabled by the Minister in Parliament and made publicly available at an
annual consultative conference of higher education stakeholders which will be convened by
the Minister and the CHE in order to discuss the health of the system or of a particular
sector of higher education.
3.27 The Minister will be obliged to take
the advice of the CHE into account and, except in exceptional circumstances, provide
reasons in writing if he or she does not accept its advice.
3.28 The CHE will be responsible for
quality assurance and promotion in higher education, through its permanent committee, the
Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC), which will seek delegated authority from SAQA
for this purpose. (See paragraphs 2.69-2.71 above.) The CHE will make the arrangements it
deems appropriate to operate within the policy framework and procedural guidelines
established by SAQA.
National Task Team on Transformation
(NTTT)
3.29 The Ministry has established a
National Task Team on Transformation (NTTT) in accordance with a resolution of the July
1996 Indaba summit on higher education. The Ministry has also adopted the National
Framework Agreement on Transformation (NFAT), prepared by the NTTT on the basis of a draft
referred to it by the Summit, which it has recommended to institutions. Codes of conduct
and conflict resolution mechanisms are recommended in the NFAT which the Ministry is
committed to refining and strengthening in order to aid institutions in the process of
transformation. The activities and programmes of the NTTT will be managed by the
Department of Education. The NTTT will play a key role in convening the annual
consultative stakeholders' summit, as well as in advising the Minister on the state of
transformation in the institutions.
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The Higher Education Branch of the
Department of Education
3.30 The Ministry has established a new
Higher Education Branch of the Department of Education, headed by a Deputy
Director-General. The relevant functions of the Department regarding policy development
and planning, resource allocation and financing, information collection and analysis, and
monitoring and reporting on higher education, have been consolidated in the Branch,
supported by other branches of the Department of Education. The Branch will augment its
resources by contracting out as well as by the use of secondments from the higher
education sector.
3.31 With regard to the objectives of
transformation, the Branch in collaboration with other branches in the Department has the
following main responsibilities:
advising the Minister on policy formulation
and national planning for the higher education system, in the light of or in addition to
advice already provided by the CHE advising the Minister on the state of institutional
transformation specifying information to be provided by higher education institutions and
the collection, recording, processing and analysis of such information, including the
development of comparative performance indicators negotiating and allocating general and
specific-purpose funds to institutions on the basis of institutional plans, having regard
to the planned programme goals and profiles of student enrolments by fields and levels of
study allocating earmarked funds for individual and institutional redress and to promote
performance improvement developing the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS)
enforcing the criteria and procedures for the registration of private providers of higher
education in terms of the Higher Education Act providing information services, including
those required in support of the functions of the CHE commissioning research which will
assist the Branch in the execution of its functions leasing with and providing assistance
to organised higher education staff, student and management constituencies.
3.32 The Higher Education Branch and the
Council on Higher Education will co-operate in undertaking their respective functions,
sharing information and jointly participating in meetings and on projects as appropriate.
The Higher Education Branch will also be actively involved in inter-departmental
activities that work to improve the coherence of the government's overall approach to
social and economic development, including arts, culture, science and technology, research
and development, labour supply and skills formation, health and social justice.
[ Top ]
INSTITUTIONAL
GOVERNANCE
3.33 It is the responsibility of higher
education institutions to manage their own affairs. The Ministry has no responsibility or
wish to micro-manage institutions. Nor is it desirable for the Ministry to be too
prescriptive in the regulatory frameworks it establishes. Diversity and flexibility are
important aspects of institutional responses to varying needs and circumstances. It is
only in extreme circumstance that the Minister of Education, as the responsible
representative of the elected government of the country, would consider intervening in
order to assist to restore good order and legimate governance and management in an
institutions as contemplated in par. 3.45.
Councils
3.34 Councils are the highest
decision-making bodies of public institutions. They are responsible for the good order and
governance of institutions and for their mission, financial policy, performance, quality
and reputation. To sustain public confidence, councils should include a majority of at
least 60 per cent of members external to the institution. Councils ought not to be
involved in the day-to-day management of institutions as that is the responsibility of
their executive management, led by the vice-chancellor, rector or principal, who in turn
is accountable to the council.
3.35 The transformation of councils through
a participative democratic process involving all relevant and recognised stakeholders is a
critical first step in creating strategies for the transformation of institutions.
Transformed councils that enjoy the support and respect of all stakeholders will then be
able to play an effective role in establishing the necessary policies and structures for
the transformation of institutions.
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Forums
3.36 The Ministry encourages the meaningful
involvement of students and staff in all permanent governance structures of the
institutions including councils. Their participation in the Broad Transformation Forum is
not a substitute for membership and responsible participation in other formal governance
structures of the institutions.
3.37 Nevertheless, the Ministry continues
to support strongly the establishment and operation of Broad Transformation Forums. At
their best, they have emerged as structures in and through which institutional
stakeholders can unite to determine collectively the agenda, timetable and strategies of
transformation, to prepare codes of conduct, agree and implement dispute resolution
procedures, and draft new legislation. Where BTFs have not been established, have fallen
into disuse, or have been disregarded, councils of institutions are enjoined to establish
them and give them due status and recognition, within the framework of transformation
policy described in this White Paper. The composition, functions and procedures of such
forums would vary according to the needs and circumstances of institutions. The lifespan
of structures set up specifically for the transformation process may be limited, and may
differ from institution to institution. Institutions may decide whether or not to give
formal recognition to them in their private Acts or statutes.
3.38 However, the Ministry recognises the
need for the establishment of permanent institutional forums whose functions could include
the following:
- interpreting the new national policy
framework
- identifying and agreeing on problem areas to
be addressed
- involvement in selecting candidates for top
management positions
- setting the change agenda, including the
race and gender equity plans (see below)
- improving the institutional culture (see
below)
- providing a forum for mediating interests
and settling disputes
- participating in reforming governance
structures
- developing and negotiating a code of conduct
- monitoring and assessing change (See NCHE,
1996:205.)
3.39 The Higher Education Act will provide
for the establishment of a representative institutional forum as a committee of the
Council of each higher education instituion.
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Student Services Council
3.40 "Student support services in
higher education institutions provide personal, career, curriculum and educational
guidance and counselling, life skills and sports programmes, health and financial aid
services, and student housing facilities" (NCHE, 1996:205). The Ministry enjoins each
institution to establish a Student Services Council with a policy advisory role in student
services. This council should be democratically constituted but chaired by a senior
executive member of the institution.
Institutional culture
3.41 The Ministry is seriously concerned by
evidence of institutionalised forms of racism and sexism as well as the incidence of
violent behaviour on many campuses of higher education institutions. It is essential to
promote the development of institutional cultures which will embody values and facilitate
behaviour aimed at peaceful assembly, reconciliation, respect for difference and the
promotion of the common good.
3.42 The Ministry proposes that all
institutions of higher education should develop mechanisms which will:
- create a secure and safe campus environment
that discourages harassment or any other hostile behaviour directed towards persons or
groups on any grounds whatsoever, but particularly on grounds of age, colour, creed,
disability, gender, marital status, national origin, race, language, or sexual orientation
- set standards of expected behaviour for the
entire campus community, including but not limited to administrators, faculty, staff,
students, security personnel and contractors
- promote a campus environment that is
sensitive to racial and cultural diversity, through extracurricular activities that expose
students to cultures and traditions other than their own, and scholarly activities that
work towards this goal.
- assign competent personnel to monitor
progress in the above mentioned areas.
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3.43 The Ministry is committed to an
institutional culture in which there is gender equity. Institutions have a responsibility
for creating an equitable and supportive climate for women students and staff. Priority
areas affecting women's participation include women's representation in senior academic
and administrative positions and institutional governance structures, child care
facilities at institutions, affirmative action for women's advancement, and mechanisms to
draw women students into post-graduate studies and into science and technology.
Institutional information systems should incorporate mechanisms for monitoring and
collecting data on women students and staff.
3.44 The Ministry deplores the many
incidents of rape and sexual harassment on higher education campuses. Institutions are
enjoined to develop and disseminate institutional policies prohibiting sexual harassment
of students and employees, together with the establishment of reporting and grievance
procedures incorporating victim support and counselling, confidentiality, protection of
complainants from retaliation, as well as mechanisms for ensuring due process and
protection for respondents.
Independent assessor
3.45 Consistent with the Ministry's
responsibility to ensure accountability for the use of public resources and having regard
to the reputation of the higher education system, the Higher Education Act will confer a
legal right upon the Minister to seek an independent assessment and advice on the
condition of a higher education institution when serious circumstances arise in an
institution or institutions which warrant investigation in terms of the procedures
prescribed by the Act. The CHE will be asked to prepare a panel of independent assessors
from which the Minister will choose.
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3.46 The right to send an assessor to an
institution may be exercised where the council of an institution so requests, or in
exceptional circumstances that involve financial or other maladministration of a serious
nature, or which are seriously detrimental to the effective functioning of the
institution, where the council has failed to resolve the situation, and such an
appointment is in the best interests of higher education in an open and democratic
society. An Independent Assessor will report to the Minister within 30 days of
appointment, with findings and recommendations. The report will be made available to the
council of the institution.
CHAPTER 4
FUNDING
EXPANSION, COSTS AND
RESOURCES
4.1 The transformation of the higher
education system to meet growth, |
