Tertiary institutions do not have the capacity to enrol an estimated 100 000 extra students by 2015, Education Minister Naledi Pandor said on Tuesday.
”We need to look at the carrying capacity and whether it should not be considered for expansion to take on more young people,” Pandor said.
She was speaking after a meeting of the presidential working group on high education, which saw academics, President Thabo Mbeki and Pandor discussing critical issues facing the sector.
Pandor said the expansion of higher education institutions could include the building of new universities.
”We have to discuss the resourcing of institutions, the number of institutions and the type of institutions,” Pandor said.
South Africa aims to have 20% of people aged between 18 and 25 enrolled at higher education institutions by 2015.
The current institutions would not be able to take on that number of students, Pandor said. — Sapa