Department of Higher Education and Training

Resolutions of the 2nd Higher Education Transformation Summit

and Student Protests in Higher Education Institutions

Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training

28 October 2015

The big issues that were highlighted at the HE summit

2

• Insufficient levels of student funding• Inadequate levels of funding to match the growth in the

system and concerns about sustainability of the sector• Institutional environments that continue to reflect the

broader inequalities in society and result in experiences of alienation by many staff and students, including persistence of racism, patriarchy, homophobia, able-ism, and classism in the system

• University curricula and forms of knowledge production that are not sufficiently situated within African and the global South contexts, and are dominated by western worldviews

3

• Language practices at universities, which create barriers to effective teaching and learning

• Governance and management practices at universities that do not always effectively engage with university communities and their concerns

• The need for further interrogation of the balance between institutional autonomy and public accountability

• The unacceptably low throughput rates of students, despite achievements in greater access and success

The big issues that were highlighted at the HE summit

Resolutions of the Summit (Immediate/Short Term)

4

• Urgently address student funding and student debt problems

• Institutions to build greater transparency and engagement relating to fee structures and increments

• Strengthen NSFAS to support improvements in student funding for the poor, and to improve recovery and repayment rates

• Develop transformation goals and transformation indicators and put mechanisms in place for holding institutions accountable for progress towards achieving such goals

Resolutions of the Summit (Immediate/Short Term)

5

• Clarify the role, purpose and functioning of Institutional Forums in facilitating transformation.

• Examine the ability of university governance and management structures to address transformation imperatives and address blockages that exist.

• Create university environments that are less alienating for staff and students.

6

• All stakeholders must work together to increase the funding allocated to universities

• The work to progressively introduce free quality education for the poor must be intensified and fast-tracked

• Explore the possibility of developing regulatory frameworks in the area of fee increments

• The role of universities must be strengthened to ensure the development of democratic citizenship and to build institutional cultures based on the right to dignity

• Utilize flexible curriculum pathways and improve the use of data analytics to enhance student success

• Research and dialogue on curriculum transformation must be supported

Resolutions of the Summit (Medium Term)

7

• Resources should be allocated to enable re-curriculation and curriculum development processes which examine new and alternative contents and pedagogies which relevant to the South African context

• Build on the nationally coordinated programme to enable accelerated capacity development, greater representation and improved retention of blacks and women in the academic workforce, professoriate, and university management and governance structures

• Ensure the successful and rapid implementation of the Historically Disadvantaged Institutions (HDI) grant programme to address the development needs of HDI’s

• Promote engaged scholarship aligned to the transformation agenda

Resolutions of the Summit (Medium Term)

The Summit called for Action

8

• Summit resolutions must be enacted in activities and plans at institutional, organizational and national level, and through the National Plan for Post-School Education and Training

• Indicators to be established with respect to implementing these resolutions

• The relevant role-players to report annually on progress made with respect to each resolution that forms part of their scope of responsibility

Considerations by Government

9

• Prior to the Summit there was already a very keen understanding of new student voices calling for fundamental transformation of higher education linked to various student protests at Historically Advantaged Institutions (specifically, UCT, Stellenbosch University, Rhodes University and Wits). These were seen as a catalyst for reconceptualising the transformation of the system

• Students from all these new movements as well as the more traditional student leadership (SRCs, SAUS) Student Political formations were invited to the Summit and provided with a platform to speak

• The Minister wanted to hear all voices and for all to be considered in developing the NPPSET

10

• Prior to the Summit there was a recognition that the system was facing dire financial challenges, and specifically there was the potential for widespread unrest at the beginning of 2016 if short term solutions to the shortfall in funding for NSFAS qualifying students was not addressed.

• The President met with cabinet Ministers, and the Excos of Universities South Africa and the University Chairs of Council to discuss the challenges linked to funding, the politicization of campuses and various transformation related issues ahead of the Summit

• A Presidential Task Team led by the Director-General in the Presidency was set up to deal with the immediate challenges relating to funding for the 2016 financial year

Considerations by Government

Presidential Task Team

11

• The task team must develop a report and present it to the President by the end of November 2015

• The Terms of Reference is to Develop a short-term plan to mitigate possible student protests and unrest at the start of the 2016 academic year, and report on possible solutions to the immediate funding challenges of students in relation to NSFAS funding shortfall, Payment of registration fees for successful returning students who meet the NSFAS means test, but were not awarded NSFAS loans, and returning students who meet the NSFAS means test, but have historic outstanding university fees.

Student Protest Action

12

• On the 15 October 2015 student protests began at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) over a fee increase of 10.5% that had been announced by the Council

• By Wednesday 21 October 2015 protests had spread to some other campuses and on 22 October 2015 Western Cape universities also marched on Parliament

• The reaction to the protests at different locations has varied, with some very volatile scenes being recorded, property being damaged and in some cases the use of batons, stun grenades and teargas being used

• The protests spread to other campuses across the country with reports suggesting that most universities had joined in the protests by the 23 October 2015

13

• The protests on university campuses are fuelled by a number of burning issues, the immediate one being the proposed 2016 increments in student fees. However two specific and more systemic issues underpin this:

a) underfunding of the university system in generalb) the demand for free higher education

• The general demand by protesting students is for a 0% fee increase across the system

• The President called a meeting of all student and university leaders, as well as some members of his Cabinet and senior government officials on Friday, 23 October 2015.

• The meeting agreed to some short-term solutions and a process for dealing with longer term issues

Student Protest Action

Agreement After Meeting with President

14

• There would be a 0% fee increment for 2016 and the cost of this would be shared between government and the universities themselves

• Each university would work to ensure that charges are dropped against students detained or arrested during the protests

• That students resume their academic programme and that universities enable this by changing their timetable to create space for students to catch up and effectively complete their examinations this year, enabling the system to continue functioning That a process will be taken forward by a task team to deal with the other issues, and specifically the issue of free higher education

Thank You

15