Johannesburg - The University of South Africa (Unisa) says the African continent has the potential to surpass Asia as the continent with the brightest young people.
However, the country’s oldest university, which recently celebrated 150 years of existence, is of the view that the "chronic lack of investment and an unsustainable policy environment," were impeding young Africans from achieving their full potential.
In a statement on Monday, the university, through its spokesperson, said this issue will form part of the Times Higher Higher Education Forum, to be hosted jointly by Unisa and Times Higher Education (THE) at Unisa’s main campus in Pretoria next week.
"Africa is on track to surpass Asia as the continent that is home to the greatest number of young people. However, higher education in Africa is hindered by a chronic lack of investment, an unsustainable policy environment, competition from outside Africa for academic talent, international conflicts, and a colonial legacy that has created multiple socio-economic challenges that higher education must respond to," the spokesperson said
This year has seen university mired in controversy following a report by an Independent Assessor, who flagged maladministration challenges against the institution.
However, in May, pointing to Unisa’s improved ranking by VC Professor Puleng LenkaBula, there were indications that it was addressing the challenges raised.
The education forum will be held under the theme "Developing and enhancing quality education in Africa", which is premised on the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 on quality education.
Among the more than 30 leaders from the higher education sector who will be speaking at the event, will be LenkaBula, Martin Oosthuizen, the executive director of the Southern African Regional Universities Association (SARU), as well as former South African statistician-general and director of the Economic Modelling Academy, Dr Pali Lehohla.
According to Unisa the forum will also feature four panel discussions that will debate issues such as student support, community engagement, technology, and untapping the continent’s huge potential as it is set to overtake Asia with more young people by the middle of this century.
Other issues that will be up for discussion will be: “How higher education can meet the needs of learners from diverse communities without discrimination. What higher education in Africa will look like by the middle of the century, as well as what is needed to deliver quality teaching and learning in higher education in Africa and explore possible collaborations with other sectors, including technology, artificial intelligence, and business.”
The Star