There has been much criticism of the role of the application of registration and quality-assurance legi slation in higher education in the demise of private and overseas universities operating in South Africa.
Arguments have ranged from the free market to academic freedom to an overly defensive public provider sector. What the arguments have failed, in my opinion, to acknowledge adequately is that to be a university is not a simple matter.
Here or elsewhere, a university requires at least the unity of teaching, learning, research and engagement all enacted with, and through, the professoriate. Any one of these elements can make a legitimate contribution to education, skills development or knowledge creation, but only when they operate in concert can they invoke the name “university” as they make this contribution.
This inextricable link between the elements may be what was critically lacking in the evaluations of those private and international providers that were not granted sanction to continue operating. Had the ambition been different, so may the outcomes of the evaluations have been. There are rigorous, many would say onerous, requirements to fulfil in order to offer private education in South Africa and they primarily aim to protect the students concerned. To the extent that these requirements are met, it is quite possible to make a very significant contribution to higher education in South Africa without recourse to being a “university.”
To do this while also invoking the name “university” is only possible here in South Africa if all the requirements associated with being a university are met. Once the requirements are met, the right to use the term should be defended — no matter what the source of funding.
Universities (public or private) are not the sole constituents of the tertiary education environment and should not be treated as such. Their role — particularly in the mandate to develop knowledge as well as disseminate it — must be respected for what it is. Any provider — private or public — within South Africa should consider what differentiates a university internationally from other forms of educational provision.
The country needs a diversified, strong and effective higher education system, and private providers have a significant role to play in this regard. In tertiary education, as in health, security, schooling or even roads, the public sector alone cannot drive the level of economic and social transformation this country needs. Developing economies are all characterised by the presence of a strong private post-school sector, including private universities. Many developed economies, such as the United States, have a very strong private system.
The South African regulatory environment recognises this and creates space for effective private provision.
Perhaps the question that should be asked is whether or not all institutions that currently enjoy the statutory right to be called a university do meet the standard that was applied to the private providers. While the demise of some private “universities” in South Africa may well have been fairer than some would like to argue, it may be that the unfairness rests elsewhere.
Dr Felicity Coughlan is the director of the Independent Institute of Education, a wholly owned subsidiary of ADvTECH Limited, which is listed on the JSE. It serves as the overarching academic body for Varsity College, Rosebank College, College Campus and Vega Brand Communications School