Transformation at Stellies lagging, committee says

Stellenbosch University

Stellenbosch University

Published Jun 1, 2022

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Cape Town - The higher education portfolio committee said its overall assessment of the state of transformation at Stellenbosch University found equity among staff to be lagging behind.

The committee said staff demographics showed that the institution had a long way to go to bring inclusivity and diversity to the institution’s hierarchy.

“The university should intentionally work towards a translation of its transformation policies and plans to a lived reality and change for all students and stakeholders at the institution.

“The implementation of the transformation plan with clear targets and time frames should be expedited to achieve meaningful transformation,” it said in the report.

The committee also said the university should prioritise the employment of women in senior management, including black African academics, to improve equity in its staff demographics.

“The committee welcomed the institution’s efforts to institutionalise transformation and put systems in place to recognise its importance to redress its historical disposition. However, it stressed its concerns with the implementation of policies,” reads the report.

The report, which was adopted by the National Assembly on Tuesday, followed an oversight visit to assess the progress made in transformation and to engage the management, council and stakeholders.

It was previously debated in one of the plenary sessions in recent weeks by the MPs.

According to presentations made to the committee during the oversight visit, the new generation of academics programme has assisted in the development of young and black academics.

The African academic staff increased from 5 to 7%; coloured from 12 to 14% and Indian from 2 to 3% from 2017 to 2021.

“With regard to the professional and administrative support service staff, coloured staff increased from 39 to 45% and Indian staff increased from 1 to 2%.”

In terms of senior positions, 486 staff were white, followed by 79 coloured, 64 foreign, 28 African and 21 Indian, the report said.

“In terms of distribution by gender since 2021, the university had 411 male senior personnel and 274 female senior personnel.”

The committee’s report said student enrolment from 2012 to 2021 showed that undergraduates increased by 23% and postgraduates by 7%.

However, enrolments by race and gender for undergraduates, based on June 2021 data, showed that coloured female students were the majority at 61.9%, followed by black African females at 58.9%, Indian females at 55% and white females at 53.3%.

“White males constituted 46.7%, followed by Indian males at 44.8%, black African males at 41.8% and coloured males at 38%.”

The report noted that the university indicated that it promoted multilingualism as a resource to facilitate cognitive development, epistemic access, inclusiveness, transformation, social cohesion and respect for all languages.

“University data has showed that fewer undergraduate students indicated Afrikaans as their home language, decreasing from 42% in 2017 to 37% in 2021.”

There were fewer first-year students, translating to 20.4%, who chose Afrikaans for learning and teaching.

The report said the university had received 55 252 applications for about 5 000 first-year spaces in 2022, a 143% increase in total applications received compared to the previous year.

“The majority of the applicants were black Africans at 30 975, followed by 9 568 white applicants and 8 097 coloured applicants.”

The portfolio committee said it noted that transformation was a painful process, which required intention and willingness.

“The committee welcomed the intentions by stakeholders of the institution to work together and maintain good stakeholder relations.”

It also said it acknowledged the historical disposition of the university as a former white Afrikaner institution.

“It was also noted that the institution appeared to be struggling to attract black professionals to its senior management and academic levels, based on the demographic statistics represented.”

The report said it noted that while the demand for Afrikaans as a language of instruction had been declining among undergraduates, the university needed to ensure that those who still required its services were catered for.

Cape Times