Cape Town - Africa is littered with broken universities that held great promise a few decades ago, but are now essentially defunct as a result of state interference.
These were the words of Free State vice-chancellor, Professor Jonathan Jansen when he spoke at the third Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) Public Lecture under the theme “South African Higher Education in Crisis: Possible Solutions”.
Jansen warned another zero percent fee increase for tertiary institutions would be a death knell for universities.
Jansen was scathing in his criticism of the current Fees Commission and that Minister of Higher Education and Training Dr Blade Nzimande was expected to make a suggestion on fee increases for next year soon.
Jansen said it was a sore point that politicians and not university councils would be making announcements on fee increases, along with the Fees Commission being managed by a panel of judges and not academics that had a vested interest in the crisis.
“Today the same things that took down those universities are the same things that will cripple ours, because state interference is politicians deciding what fee increases should be,” he said.
Coupled with the legacy of underfunding and the chronic instability facing university staff on an almost daily basis, Jansen said South Africa was sitting on a ticking time bomb.
“The only thing that it does is chase away the top academics and the fee-paying students because they have options. People who can pay will pay for safety and send their kids overseas and the academics with options leave for greener pastures,” he said.
He said the future of strong, vibrant universities relied on protecting the rights, not only of the marginalised poor, but also of the middle class.
“The middle-class students are desperately needed in universities. Not only do they cross-subsidise the poor, but they also add to the rich cultural mix that make being at university life changing. Take them away and you are left with poor kids and the lecturers that no one else wants.
“At my university, many students will meet a black person for the first time on a nominally equal basis. These are important relationships that need to be built for the betterment of the country,” he said.
Jansen said the secure future of higher education will need three key interventions: free education for only the poor; the middle class must pay for the privilege of higher education and the bursary funding model must work sustainably to enable the government to recoup the funding for future generations.
CPUT vice-chancellor Dr Prins Nevhutalu commended Jansen on his bravery as he championed the cause for education throughout the country.
“We are grateful that you accepted our offer and came here today to share your vision with us. We are inspired by it.”
Cape Argus