Lebone Rodah Mosima
Deputy higher education minister Mimmy Gondwe has called for private higher education institutions to help expand access for school-leavers, as demand for post-school education and training continues to grow.
Gondwe made the call on Monday during the first of three engagements with private institutions at Emeris, Sandton.
The meetings are aimed at strengthening relations with private providers and promoting collaboration to address urgent challenges in the Post-School Education and Training sector.
These include expanding access for all students, creating a business-friendly environment for private investment in education, and fostering innovation and responsiveness to labour market needs.
Gondwe said access within private higher institutions remained a growing challenge and should be expanded through partnerships with private higher education providers for students graduating from high school.
She said demand for higher education and training was increasing rapidly, and that engagement with private institutions could help improve tangible access.
“[T]oday’s discussion is trying to get a sense from our private higher in relation to the role that they can play, in helping us, encounter some of the challenges that we’re experiencing in the sector,” Gondwe said.
“I don’t want us to be in a situation where we have this conversation around the need to expand access every year without coming up with tangibles in relation to how to expand access.”
Gondwe said expanded access could also allow private higher education institutions to assist with funding to develop specialised universities.
She said this would require a long-term commitment from government.
“There is definitely an appetite for us to partner around building universities, which will ensure that we can expand access. We’ve got to make sure that there’s funding for those students to come into the higher education space,” she said.
Gondwe also raised concerns about the difficulties students face in securing placement in the labour market after graduation.
She said the department was working to ensure students were placed after completing their studies.
”We have left it to TVET students who are doing hospitality to find work-based learning placements, and I think that’s very unfair. So I spoke to them about how we can partner to better ensure that our students are placed.”
The engagements will conclude on Wednesday.
They form part of efforts to ensure private colleges are registered with the Department of Higher Education and Training and offer programmes accredited by recognised quality assurance bodies, including the South African Qualifications Authority, the Quality Council for Trades & Occupations, and the Council on Higher Education. INSIDE EDUCATION
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