Cape Town - Universities could not solely be blamed for the slow pace of transformation at tertiary institutions, vice-chancellors have said.
Instead, the government should jointly shoulder the blame for the transformation issues facing institutions of higher learning, and the resultant uprisings on their campuses in recent months.
Delivering a submission on the Higher Education Amendment Bill on behalf of 26 universities, Wits vice-chancellor Professor Adam Habib told the National Assembly’s higher education committee on Wednesday, that the sector was “facing an incredibly difficult moment that could turn into a permanent crisis”.
The country’s universities have rejected a proposed amendment that would give the Minister of Higher Education and Training Blade Nzimande the power to set transformation goals without consulting the Council for Higher Education (CHE).
Vice-chancellor of the Durban University of Technology (DUT) Professor Ahmed Bawa said there were enough systems in place to ensure transformation at universities.
“Transformation isn’t something the minister can put together in his office.
“It’s dangerous for the minister to have the power to determine what transformation must happen,” he said.
Habib said transformation was not only about changing the demographic profiles of students and staff, but ensuring the poor get access to education.
“We are not going to fix that from Schoeman Street or the Union Buildings,” he said. “One man can’t fix this from afar.”
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Giving the power solely to the minister, they argued, would erode the institutional autonomy of universities, which was crucial to their success and to achieve academic excellence.
“What is happening at UCT, is a real, real tragedy, that has the potential to destroy the higher education system,” Habib said.
But he argued the transformational problems facing the sector were not a result of the institutional autonomy of universities.
Chairwoman of the National Assembly’s higher education committee Yvonne Phosa said the government was trying to intervene as a corrective measure.
“Things have not happened. The government has to be seen to be doing something. The government had to act in this manner,” Phosa said.
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EFF MP Moses Mbatha said addressing the needs of poor students had to date been inconsistent.
“The poor are just going to get into the system to demonstrate from inside, that the system doesn’t work,” he said.
The ANC’s Sibongile Mchunu said transformation was not only about transforming the student population, but also staff profiles.
DUT council chairman Professor Jairam Reddy said universities were being unfairly blamed for not transforming, and the government had to acknowledge the strides that had been made over the last two decades.
From a 10 percent black student population at universities in 1994, that figure is now 60 percent.
Rhodes University had a 65 percent black student population, while at Wits it was 77 percent.
Between 25 and 30 percent of students were being accommodated in university residences – more than ever before, said Reddy.
“Change must happen at the heart of the university.
“It must be done at the coalface, not in the office of the minister,” he said.
Habib said the “astronomical cost” of attending university had been because of a decline in subsidies over the past 20 years.
“There have been systemic constraints that have compelled universities to make those decisions.
“The fees are outside the purse string of society. In a democracy, that should not be allowed,” he said.
Habib said there was a misunderstanding that universities were “rich”.
Wits had a budget of around R450 million, while Rhodes had around R600m.
Cape Argus