Cape Town - A subsidised higher education system by the government with the current economic growth is not sustainable. This is according to University of Free State (UFS) Vice-Chancellor Professor Francis Petersen.
“We need a massive boost in our economy in order to sustain the South African higher education subsidy system, but I also believe we need to pull other components of the economy.
“Universities are the cornerstones of the economic growth of the country; we need better investments in universities,” he said.
Petersen, born in Oudtshoorn and raised in Malmesbury, got his professorship at the age of 29 from the University of Stellenbosch where he presented research in chemical engineering and metallurgical engineering.
He did his first stint in academics in the chemical engineering department at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), formerly known as Cape Tech, where he was promoted to the head of department. He then left the university to work in the private sector for companies such as Mintek and Anglo American Platinum.
“As a young boy, I was very imaginative, always looking at different ways of trying things. My parents never pushed me to academics, but they taught me values such as hard work and commitment,” he said.
Petersen described exposure to hardships when he was the executive vice-president at Mintek and he was involved in the restructuring of the company. “I had to implement retrenchments where I learnt to balance hardcore business outcomes with the humanitarian type of flair,” he said.
Petersen was an adviser to ministers of science and technology such as Naledi Pandor and Derek Hanekom.
He also served on the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) as chairman before returning to academics at the University of Cape Town, where he became deputy vice-chancellor and was in the forefront in engaging with students on the #RhodesMustFall movement.
UFS Vice-Chancellor Professor Francis Petersen. Picture: Armand Hough/African News Agency
“I was at the coalface of engagements. This gave me a massive amount of experience and a high level of resilience. I supported the issue students had but not their actions in achieving outcomes,” he said.
“Look at South Africa there are still people with no access to primary healthcare, water, sanitation - basic things needed for humanity. Weighing those with free education is a no-brainer.”
He said that over the past 10 years university vice-chancellors had criticised the underfunding of the system. This had forced students and parents to fund it.
Collaborative work from stakeholders such as the government, private sector, industry and research councils would yield successful students, thus improving the economy.
“If those sectors can realise valuable contributions, they can, working together interchangeably, give us a chance to move our economic growth to above 5%. My passion is to see all sectors operating as one, realising the different things they do, but building a system of innovation.”
Petersen said his focus was on integrating UFS. Within his first nine months in office, he has established a strategic plan aimed at looking at teaching and learning, research and university policies and practices.
“We forget about incidents of racial discrimination too quickly as universities, but people, staff and students are not over it. We need to build urgency in decisions made so that students don’t get frustrated,” he said.
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