The University of Venda (Univen) council last week officially rejected the proposed merger with the University of the North and the Medical University of South Africa.
In its final submission to Minister of Education Kader Asmal, the Univen council has described the proposed merger with the two institutions as “flawed” and “defective”.
It says the proposals, if implemented, would be disastrous for Limpopo province and that they do not take regional equity into account. The Univen council is chaired by Barney Pityana, who is also vice-chancellor of the University of South Africa (Unisa).
Unisa is also a subject of the tertiary restructuring process. Mbangiseni Masia, Univen’s spokes-person, said the institution’s council rejected the proposals by a national working group that Asmal appointed last year to advise him on tertiary restructuring. The council believed the proposals would effectively deny Limpopo’s 5,3-million people regional access to higher education.
Masia also confirmed that Pityana had asked the Limpopo Department of Education to aid the university’s efforts against the looming merger.
Addressing a graduation dinner at Univen last week, Pityana asked Limpopo MEC for Education Joyce Mashamba, who was at the function, to throw her weight behind the university’s submission to Asmal.
Shortly before Pityana made his call, Mashamba said: “I wish you [Univen] well in your challenge to merge your institution with Unin and Medunsa.”
Her comments sparked speculation that she did not back the institution’s position. Her office was not available for comment this week. Masia said Univen was not aware of Mashamba’s position and he dismissed allegations that she had snubbed the university. “We do not know whether the MEC supports or does not support our position.”
He said Univen would make its formal submission to Asmal on October 4.
This week Masia gave the Mail & Guardian documents that will form part of the council’s submission. The documents are highly critical of the national working group (NWG). They also slam the NWG for ignoring Univen’s vision of itself as “a university of science and technology” for rural development, and its geographical and strategic location for regional upliftment.
It also accuses the NWG of applying a “flawed methodology” and says the NWG’s findings and recommendations are based on incorrect data.
Asmal is accused of advocating a “one size fits all” approach to higher education restructuring, “which does not take into account issues of regional and institutional diversity”. He is also slammed for “over-reliance” on mergers.
“The minister’s over-reliance on mergers seems to suggest that the reconfiguration of the institutional landscape is in itself sufficient to ensure an equitable, sustainable and productive higher education system that will promote social integration and nation building.
“Asmal’s totalistic and reductive approach is likely to hinder the achievement of policy goals because it is not nuanced and differentiated,” the council said.
In a section entitled “Setting the Record Straight about the University of Venda”, the council charges that the proposed merger would erode institutional responsiveness to local, regional and national imperatives.
“It will take away the University of Venda’s ability to identify its own institutional strengths and niche areas, either existing or potential, thus depriving it of the capacity to determine its own vision and mission as determined by its social and economic context in general and the higher education landscape in particular.”
Univen’s submission also raises questions about the cost benefits of the proposed merger. “Given the distance between the two institutions, the achievement of substantial cost benefits is doubtful. Also, a merger is a complex, time- and energy-consuming exercise and is resource-intensive.”