[lg policy] South Africa: Nzimande picks team to drive change at varsities

[Harold Schiffman]

 Nzimande picks team to drive change at varsities Ten-member committee set
up to monitor progress at all public tertiary education institutions
11 July 2017 - 05:53 Bekezela Phakathi
[image: Social cohesion: Students mingle on the campus at the University of
Cape Town. The government has appointed a committee to accelerate
transformation at South African universities. Picture: SUPPLIED]
<https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/BRq-laOoSsdxrEibgnvvdDujqeMa3Zq2VJ7JCNylEivUNBoaOEXlg3W2yDrKAqyQeK7AKTwtrmLd6xJprW2c7vxcjBW8FsU=s1200>
Social cohesion: Students mingle on the campus at the University of Cape
Town. The government has appointed a committee to accelerate transformation
at South African universities. Picture: SUPPLIED

Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande has established a
10-member committee to fast-track transformation in the tertiary sector.

Nzimande’s department has been looking to accelerate transformation in
universities, including setting clear targets and indicators.

The demographics of the professoriate should be radically changed,
discrimination eliminated and student success and support improved,
according to the department.

President Jacob Zuma has signed the Higher Education Amendment Act, which
gives Nzimande more powers to intervene in university matters. The law
gives the minister the power to determine transformation objectives and put
mechanisms in place to ensure the objectives are met.

It also empowers the minister to withhold funding under specific
circumstances.

The transformation oversight committee had been appointed for a three-year
term, Nzimande said in the Government Gazette.

The committee will be chaired by Prof André Keet, a director of the
International Institute for Studies in Race, Reconciliation and Social
Justice at the University of the Free State. It will monitor progress on
transformation in public universities, serve as an expert advisory body,
provide independent advice to the minister and the department in fulfilling
their oversight roles and assist in strengthening the accountability of
universities when it comes to transformation goals.

It will also conduct an assessment of the effect of language policies on
institutional culture and social integration.

"Such transformation involves the improvement of the quality of teaching
and learning; the elimination of weak administrative systems, especially at
historically disadvantaged universities; the elimination of discriminatory
practices based on gender, race, class and historical imbalances; the
provision of adequate infrastructure so that all universities can meet
their mandates in the context of social cohesion," Nzimande said.

In 2008, Naledi Pandor, who was education minister at the time, appointed a
ministerial committee on transformation and social cohesion following a
racism incident at a University of Free State hostel. That committee
observed that racism and sexism were pervasive, and that the pace of
redress was painfully slow. It noted serious disjunction between policy and
real-life experiences of students and staff in learning, teaching,
curriculum, languages, residence life and governance. In its report, the
committee recommended that the minister consider establishing a permanent
oversight committee to monitor the transformation of higher education.
https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/national/education/2017-07-11-nzimande-picks-team-to-drive-change-at-varsities/

-- 
**************************************
N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its
members
and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or
sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who
disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write
directly to the original sender of any offensive message.  A copy of this
may be forwarded to this list as well.  (H. Schiffman, Moderator)

For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to
https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/
listinfo/lgpolicy-list
*******************************************
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/lgpolicy-list/attachments/20170711/c5559389/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
_______________________________________________
This message came to you by way of the lgpolicy-list mailing list
lgpolicy-list at groups.sas.upenn.edu
To manage your subscription unsubscribe, or arrange digest format: https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/listinfo/lgpolicy-list