Public higher education institutions must shape up to serve national interests
Images & caps
Public universities and colleges need to become more efficient and producee graduates that are more employable.
Winning nations around the world such as the US, the Netherlands, South Korea and the Nordic countries have highly productive higher education institutions that strive to serve their national interests. Therefore, it was timeous to read
BusinessTech
.
Roodt's thought-provoking, critical, yet pertinent, article drew a distinction between thriving private higher education institutions and failing public (state-funded) universities in South Africa. He made the provocative suggestion that the number of public universities should be reduced and that the government should allocate more funds to private institutions which, by implication, appear to be more productive.
He argues that many public institutions are poorly run, prone to mismanagement, and are out of touch with market realities, hence contributing to the rising number of unemployed graduates.
While Roodt's comments shouldn't be generalised across all South African public institutions they shouldn't be dismissed either, because they raise critical questions about the value that universities, public and private, bring to serving national interests.
Consider the high cost of the public higher education sector. According to the treasury's Budget Overview (21 May 2025), the total cost for learning and culture is R505.6 billion. This includes R332 billion on basic education, R55 billion on the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) and R48 billion on university transfers. With many of the public institutions running huge deficits because of high operational costs, compounded by financial mismanagement, unjustifiably high salaries of senior executives, and the constant controversies at NSFAS, Roodt's comments deserve urgent reflection.
Access to higher education is a sensitive issue based on South Africa's turbulent and divisive political history when many were denied access to education. But access to universities should be prioritised for learners with the academic aptitude to pursue the study paths suited to their capabilities. Further, these career paths must be aligned with the job market.
It's fine to argue that universities teach critical thinking and develop higher cognitive abilities, but these mean nothing if not underpinned by how to use critical thinking to solve problems. After all, ponder the words of Washington Post columnist Thomas Friedman who wrote, 'The world doesn't care about what you know. The world only cares about what you can do with what you know and it doesn't care about how you learnt it.' Friedman, cuts to the chase of what teaching and learning are about. Access should be enhanced but students should be directed to institutions best suited to their chances of success.
There should also be greater scrutiny on how public institutions manage their resources, productivity and relations with broader society for the following reasons: the high cost burden on the public purse and how effectively it serves the needs of society through employability. From both perspectives, the picture is disappointing. Many of the public institutions run high budget deficits due to poor financial management.
And Statistics South Africa's Quarterly Labour Force Survey for the last quarter of 2024 showed grim youth employment levels. Youths aged 15 to 24 and 25 to 34 years continue to have the highest unemployment rates at 59.6% and 39.4%, respectively. Even though the graduate unemployment rate decreased by 1.1 percentage points from 9.8% in the third quarter of 2024 to 8.7% in the fourth, these are still unacceptably high numbers of unemployed graduates.
There's no doubt that public higher education institutions are contested spaces, complex and highly politicised. But as institutions supported by the public purse there needs to be high levels of accountability with strict performance management metrics in place.
It can be argued that one of the core reasons for failing institutions is the prevailing 'ivory tower' mentality. Many public institutions are too insular and inward looking, with little engagement with market trends and the world of work. Academics in most cases operate in isolation from 'real world' dynamics largely because of the 'publish or perish' demands which pursue research for publications to secure status, funding and professional career advancement.
The entire value chain in higher education, academic institutions and research bodies adheres to this practice which measures academic success through quantitative research output metrics such as publication count, journal effectiveness and number of citations. These metrics influence recruitment, promotion, as well as access to funding, forcing academics to churn out research without consideration for its value-adding impact on society.
In this Youth Month, where our most critical resource, our youth, face a future of hopelessness because of high unemployment, a moribund economy, high levels of crime, increasing climate threats and global uncertainty, there's an urgent need for reflection and inclusive conversations. Education practitioners should create opportunities for wider consultations on the failings and successes and how these can be remediated and built upon to convert a national resource into a strategic national asset.
But to achieve the full value of our higher education, hard decisions need to be made. The higher education sector needs in place the right heads, hearts and hands. A case in point is the recent debacle over the Minister of Higher Education and Training Nobuhle Nkabane's irregular appointment of Sector Education and Training Authority (Seta) board chairpersons. When this type of thinking cascades down the line of command to higher institutions, it becomes a recipe for disaster.
In his article, Roodt places emphasis on the need 'to shift in South Africa and start to produce the skills we really need'. One should add that this shift should be systemic, starting with recruitment and appointments. Senior executive positions often prioritise scholarly achievements rather than evidence-based managerial skills such as managing budgets, motivating staff, stewarding relationships and planning strategic future-focused endeavours.
In addition, most academics have never worked in private, corporate or industrial enterprises because the path to employability is based on attaining a postgraduate qualification. Few even have a robust grasp of epistemology, andragogy or didactic fundamentals.
And with many learners coming from a struggling secondary schooling sector, the focus should be on dynamic teaching that empowers students to learn independently and be less dependent on rote learning. This should also be supported by academic content that promotes entrepreneurial thinking, innovation and that aligns with market trends and job opportunities.
It was Albert Einstein, not only a brilliant physicist but also an astute social commentator, who defined education as, 'what remains, once we have forgotten everything we learned at school'. Einstein understood the essence of education; education that is transformative, that transcends rote and book learning; education that fully lives up its Latin roots, 'educare' which means 'to nourish'
.
It is these values that are required to create a better and a more sustainable South Africa.
Rudi Kimmie (PhD) is an independent education consultant. He writes in his personal capacity.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Herald
32 minutes ago
- The Herald
FAIS ombud upholds complaint against Luvuyo Burial and Consulting
The office of the ombud for financial services providers has issued a determination in favour of Pumelele Mantingani after financial services provider Luvuyo Burial and Consulting failed to honour a funeral policy claim. Luvuyo Burial's failure to honour the claim has also resulted in its licence as a financial services provider being suspended by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA). Mantingani, who took out a funeral policy with the company in September 2020, lodged a complaint with the ombud's office on October 28 last year after Luvuyo Burial and Consulting failed to honour a valid claim after the death of her uncle, Mbuyeni Katshi, on July 17 2024. Mantingani submitted her claim on July 27 2024. Luvuyo Burial and Consulting, based in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, acknowledged the claim and committed to payment, but only partially honoured the obligation, paying R5,000 of the R10,000 due. Despite further assurances, the balance remains unpaid. Numerous attempts were made by the ombud to resolve the matter amicably. Though Luvuto Burial undertook on more than one occasion to settle the outstanding balance, it failed to do so. During the investigation, it also came to light that Luvuyo Burial was operating without an underwriter, raising serious concerns regarding its compliance with regulatory requirements. In assessing the evidence, the office found that the policy was valid and that the deceased was listed as an insured life. However, Luvuyo failed to act in accordance with the policyholder protection rules, which require that: 'An insurer must, within two business days after all required documents in respect of a claim under a microinsurance policy or a funeral policy have been received, assess and make a decision whether the claim submitted is valid, and authorise payment of the claim, repudiate the claim or dispute the claim and notify the claimant of the dispute.' The ombud said the company's failure to process the claim appropriately reflected noncompliance with treating customers fairly outcome 6, which states that 'customers do not face unreasonable post-sale barriers when they want to change a product, switch providers, submit a claim or make a complaint'. As a result, the ombud upheld the complaint and ordered that Luvuyo Burial and Consulting pay the complainant the outstanding balance of R5,000 with interest at a rate of 11.25% per annum from the date of the determination until the date of final payment. 'Given the respondent's failure to comply with regulatory requirements, a copy of this determination was referred to the FSCA for its attention and possible enforcement action. 'As a result, the respondent's licence as a financial services provider was suspended by the FSCA on April 14,' the ombud said. TimesLIVE
The Herald
32 minutes ago
- The Herald
Store account add-ons, ‘lack of due care' car claims among top disputes for consumers
The life division of the NFO finalised 5,977 cases in 2024. The total amount recovered was R202.8m. Denise Gabriels, lead ombud: life division, said funeral benefits remained the product most complained about, accounting for 45% of complaints. The most common causes for complaints were claims being declined; at 56%; followed by poor service or administration, at 34%. Of the five life insurance companies that received the most complaints: 628 formal cases were opened against Old Mutual Life Assurance Company, representing 18% of all complaints opened; Liberty Group Limited had 399 formal cases opened, representing 11%; Hollard Life Insurance Company had 259 cases, representing 7%; Metropolitan Life had 216 cases; and Sanlam Life Insurance Ltd had 188 cases opened. Credit The credit division of the NFO successfully closed 2,040 cases, achieving positive outcomes for complainants in 49% of cases. This resulted in financial redress totalling R2.35m. The highest number of cases were opened with: the Retail Credit Solutions (RCS) Group, which had the highest number of cases opened, totalling 243, representing 17% of all cases opened; Opco 365 had 133 cases opened, representing 9% of all cases opened; Edcon Limited had 126 cases opened, 9% of all cases opened; and DMC Debt Management had 121 cases opened, 9% of all cases opened. Findings in favour of complainants totalled 44%. Howard Gabriels, lead ombud: credit division, said two matters that stood out with a number of retailers for their systemic impact during the reporting period were: value-added services (VAS); and minimum payment calculations. 'A serious concern emerged regarding the application of payments on credit accounts where VAS charges (such as airtime or insurance add-ons) were not considered in determining the minimum monthly payments,' he said.
Mail & Guardian
2 hours ago
- Mail & Guardian
Loan company exploited social grant beneficiaries, high court rules
The high court in Johannesburg has ruled against JDG Trading. Illustration: Lisa Nelson The high court in Johannesburg has declared that it is unreasonable to offer social grant beneficiaries insurance for disability and retrenchment if they are already disabled or unemployed. An insurance product offered by credit provider JDG Trading included cover for disability and retrenchment. But disabled and unemployed clients, mostly social grant beneficiaries, would never be able to make a claim for disability or retrenchment. The court ruled recently that this exploited social grant beneficiaries who took out loans from JDG Trading and infringed on their constitutional right to social assistance. JDG Trading offers loans to social grant beneficiaries for household goods and furniture. Customers are required to insure the loans, and can purchase insurance from JDG Trading directly or another provider. Because JDG Trading's insurance bundle included cover for disability and retrenchment, and many of its clients are already disabled or unemployed, the National Credit Regulator took JDG to the National Credit Tribunal, arguing that the insurance policy was unreasonable and against the National Credit Act. The National Credit Tribunal ruled in favour of JDG and the regulator — whose mandate is to promote and support the development of a fair, transparent, competitive, sustainable, responsible, efficient and effective consumer credit market — then took the matter to the high court. The regulator argued in court that by offering cover for retrenchment and disability to unemployed or disabled people, JDG made customers assume a risk that was unreasonable. JDG was using these customers, who could not fully benefit from the policy, to subsidise others who could, the regulator argued. Rights group Black Sash, represented by the Centre for Applied Legal Studies, joined as a friend of the court. It argued that the insurance policy particularly affected social grant beneficiaries and therefore infringed on the constitutional right of access to social security and social assistance. Black Sash submitted expert evidence from an actuary to demonstrate the impact on customers. But JDG Trading argued that its policy was not unreasonable because consumers were not obliged to sign up for its insurance and were free to obtain the insurance elsewhere. JDG Trading argued that the regulator and Black Sash had taken a 'paternalistic approach' and failed to provide any evidence of consumers who misunderstood the policy's provisions at the time they signed up or had been deceived. It said its product was affordable and convenient, thereby enabling greater access to credit. Johannesburg high court judges Shaida Mohamed and Khashane Manamela agreed with Black Sash and the regulator that the policy was unreasonable. The consumers in this case belonged to a marginalised group who are dependent on social grants for their existence, the judges said. Because the insurance policy was offered to the consumer at the point of sale it was unlikely they had time to consider it properly. JDG Trading had conceded that this class of consumers could never have made use of the policy and therefore it was clear they were cross-subsidising younger consumers who could benefit from the policy. Pensioners would not knowingly sign up for a disadvantageous policy, the judges said. There was no option to exclude the disability or retrenchment cover from the bundle. By placing an unfair burden on a vulnerable segment of society, the insurance product was at odds with the goals of the National Credit Act, which aimed to make credit more accessible and combat inequitable and discriminatory practices to this end, the court said. The appeal was therefore upheld with each party to pay their own costs. This story was first published by .
