By Alicia Mmashakana
The Portfolio Committee on Higher Education is concerned about the University of the Free State (UFS) hiring of 141 foreign academics and 26 foreign support personnel.
The committee met UFS senior management, unions, student representatives and other stakeholders. It encouraged UFS to prioritise local talent development and hiring, cautioning against using the ‘scarce skills’ argument to dismiss qualified South African candidates.
The committee is in the Free Sate on a week-long oversight visit to post-secondary education and training institutions to evaluate academic readiness and infrastructure.
“The committee also raised concerns about the underrepresentation of African, coloured and Indian staff in professorships and associate professorships, highlighting ongoing transformation challenges at UFS,” said committee spokesperson Jabulani Majozi.
“University management acknowledged that there is a need to address employment equity, agreeing on the need for greater diversity in leadership to better reflect to the Free State’s demographics.”
The committee supported student preferences for English as the medium of instruction and acknowledged concerns regarding lecturers who only utilised Afrikaans.
The Student Representative Council also advocated for better support for pregnant students, however, the committee reminded them that the university could not bear this responsibility alone.
The committee emphasised the need for accredited student accommodation regarding the QwaQwa campus, noting that academic success rates were higher among students residing in university housing compared to those staying at home.
Committee chairperson Tebogo Letsie warned against “pouring billions into student housing without accountability”, saying it meant that students may end up in substandard conditions.
INSIDE EDUCATION
