[lg policy] South African Varsities rated globally for quality and accessibility

[Harold Schiffman]

SA varsities rated globally for quality and accessibility
Roxanne Henderson | 18 May, 2016 08:24
Criticising transformation at the University of Stellenbosch‚ students
complained that its language policy did not cater to all its students with
the release of the “Luister” documentary. File photo
*Image by:* Andre Pentz ‏ via Twitter
In a year that has seen university students rioting and campus buildings
fire bombed‚ South Africa still leads the pack ahead of other African
nations in new global higher education rankings.


This is according to higher education analysts Quacquarelli Symonds' (QS)
2016 Higher Education System Strength rankings‚ which measure the best
national environments for higher education institutions.

South Africa came in at 30th place out of the 50 countries ranked‚ the only
country in Africa to place in the published rankings.

Europe was the best performing continent with 22 of its countries providing
a top-50 institution.

In a publication by QS last year‚ ranking 404 universities in Brics
countries‚ South Africa failed to make the top 10.

Said QS at the time: “Managers of these universities argue that their
faculty-student ratio is essentially set by the government‚ which presses
them to admit more students but does not fund them well enough to hire more
staff.

“These tricky educational economics mean‚ too‚ that South Africa’s
academics are not well-paid by world standards and as a result many do not
have a PhD.”

But the new rankings do not only look at the number of top universities a
country has‚ but rather the quality and accessibility of its higher
education system‚ QS said.

The rankings measure academic performance alongside other metrics to assess
strengths and weaknesses of a country's higher education environment.

There are students that might not agree that South Africa's higher
education system is accessible.

Last year‚ students across the country saw universities shut down as they
joined the #FeesMustFall protest for a 0% increase in fees.

Criticising transformation at the University of Stellenbosch‚ students
complained that its language policy did not cater to all its students with
the release of the “Luister <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sF3rTBQTQk4>”
documentary.
  In spite of these challenges Stellenbosch University last year jumped 88
places in the QS' world university rankings

http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/2016/05/18/SA-varsities-rated-globally-for-quality-and-accessibility

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