Tertiary institutions should become truly African, and not pay lip service to the concept, when in reality their actions continue to undermine everything African, Deputy Minister of Education Mosibudi Mangena said at a function to mark African University Day.
He said much has happened since the Unesco Conference on Higher Education in 1962, where delegates asked if African institutions should retain the traditional functions of European institutions, or whether they should reflect the needs of Africa by producing graduates with skills to participate in the continent.
Mangena said that if one accepted Thabo Mbeki’s contention that the university is a microcosm of society, we should all agree that blacks in South Africa are right to feel aggrieved by the fact that previous government policy had the stated intention of either denying them access to higher education, or, when they did access it, further attempts were made so ensure they did not receive quality higher education.
Mangena went on: “What role are we playing to actively and decisively address the legacy of apartheid in higher education? And is the university really a microcosm of wider society? In other words, should we insist on seeing in the composition of the university a reflection of broader society? Or is it more realistic to conceive of the university, as many would like us to believe, as an elitist institution intended to serve only an elite few?
“I have no immediate answer to these vexing questions. Suffice to say that an environment should be created through which all willing and able citizens, irrespective of race, colour or creed, can feel accommodated in the activities of higher education institutions,” Mangena said.
“Among our 36 higher education institutions, we have some well-endowed institutions and others that are very poorly resourced. How these institutions respond to globalisation will differ. The challenges are there and should be confronted head-on,” he added.
– The Teacher/M&G Media, Johannesburg, December 2001.