South Africa’s tertiary education system is operating at close to capacity with limited infrastructure and academic staffing resources available for expansion, Education Minister Naledi Pandor said in Durban on Thursday.
Pandor, who was speaking at the opening of a new R93-million Conservation, Biology and Sciences building at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, said that the government hoped to achieve a higher education enrolment of 820 000 students by 2010 and increase that by a further 100 000 students by 2015.
However, investigations by the department’s ”enrolment-planning process” showed that the higher education system was close to capacity in so far as infrastructure and academic staffing resources were concerned.
”It is clear that we can’t respond to the challenges of the 21st century with the higher education system at its present capacity.
”In addition, the physical infrastructure for teaching, learning, and research is ageing and in need of renovation,” she said.
Pandor said the government was looking into existing institutions expanding their capacity as well as the possibility of establishing new institutions.
She said the government had recently allocated R3,3-billion towards improving higher education infrastructure.
Funding for higher education doubled between 1997 and 2006, with the government allocating R15,1-billion this year. Pandor said in 2010 this would rise to R19,2-billion.
Pandor also expressed concern that student fees were becoming an increasing portion of university income.
”There is a tension between the legitimate belief that charging higher fees is a reasonable way of raising university income and the certain knowledge that charging higher fees will deter qualified students from disadvantaged backgrounds from going to university.”
In 2000, student fees accounted for 24% of university income and by 2005, student fees had risen to 29% of university income.
”The effect is that fee costs per student have risen at rates well above those of inflation,” she said. – Sapa