University of Johannesburg, 10 March 2009
Our host, Mr. Vice Chancellor, Professor Rensburg and all Vice-chancellors present,
The chairperson of the ANC NEC Education and Health subcommittee, Dr Zweli Mkhize,
The Minister of Education and all Ministers and NEC members present,
Our esteemed academics,
Distinguished guests,
Thank you very much for making the time to share some thoughts with us.
We felt it important for us to request this discussion, as it is crucial for us to engage each other on issues. Academics have played a critical role in the ANC's life and form for decades.
We need to have an open relationship and be able to speak directly to each other and not debate only through the media. We must be able to engage each other on social, economic and political issues on a regular basis.
We say this mindful of the special role of the academic sector in our community. Academics enjoy privileges and rights beyond those accorded to other workers.
Our Constitution speaks of academic freedom and institutional autonomy to ensure that universities are able to conduct themselves without interference from outside.
It should be possible for us to find a way to work together without undermining academic freedom or our political work.
Broadly speaking, we can agree that universities exist to do the following amongst others:
As I travel around the country, I am impressed by how articulate people are at expressing their concerns, their hopes and their commitment to contributing to the building of this country.
Some of the major socio-economic challenges facing our country currently which our people raise are: poverty, the need for expanded access to social services in particular in education, health and welfare, as well as decent jobs.
In the rural areas they will add access to land for farming and housing, as well as the need for infrastructure such as roads, electricity and water.
As the academic community, your role is to unpack these matters raised by our people and to help us find solutions through tried and tested methodologies and problem-based research.
We believe that you have a responsibility to tell those who govern why policies are not working, to suggest alternatives and present alternative thinking and roadmaps of the way ahead.
This would be effective and very useful feedback especially if done in a non-partisan way.
These responsibilities are true for universities all over the world. They are expected to identify and provide solutions to pressing social, cultural, and economic problems. It is precisely for this reason that many, if not all, enter into various forms of partnerships with industry, government, and society.
These partnerships are critical if universities are to remain relevant and responsive to the challenges facing their societies.
For universities to play this constructive role, there is a need to revisit the purpose of higher education, especially in the context of democracy. It means all our universities should transform themselves to fit into the changed socio-political scenario in our country.
We have been encouraged by efforts undertaken by the higher education sector to address the challenge of demographic representation.
It is our sincere hope that this change will result in producing a sector whose objectives are in line with those of society.
The challenge is; how do we make our higher education institutions to reflect freedom and the democratic ethos in our country.
This means that in addition to our universities being incubators of knowledge, they would need to transform themselves in a way that enables them to be geared to meeting the political, economic and social needs of our society.
To be relevant:
While we have no quarrel with certain elements of a traditional role of a university, we can all agree that the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake - has been found wanting.
As a result, universities have to redefine themselves, to become relevant actors in this new era of freedom and democracy in a developing country.
The question we need to ask; is whether our universities have redefined themselves in such a way that they become part of the solution to our social and economic problems.
For example, with regards to skills development, it means universities need to align themselves with the country's national human resource strategy.
There would be a need for linkages between secondary and higher education, for example to ensure that we increase the pool of learners who leave matric with good passes in maths and science.
These subjects are required for entrance into the technical programmes offered in higher education institutions, and also those that register as apprentices.
At the moment, the national skills pool required for industrial development and sustainable competitiveness leaves much to be desired.
We need to focus on producing technical skills in the categories of artisans, technicians, technologists, engineers, scientists, and technology management.
Universities must also be alive to the reality that the changing nature of work has resulted in the downsizing of corporate companies. Advances in technology have changed the way of doing business and the moves towards outsourcing.
Higher education must help us to respond to these changes to prevent job losses.
It should be obvious that we are talking about a changed or broadened conception of a university. In the past, academics were only expected to encourage their students to pursue their studies rigorously and to foster a love for the discipline for its own sake. Research was regarded as being a pursuit of knowledge for its own sake.
We advocate a change from 'ivory tower' institutions to multi-purpose knowledge organisations that are socially relevant and serve the communities in which they are located.
Furthermore, societies need both a highly skilled workforce and a greatly expanded one. Universities are therefore expected to meet this requirement through increasing the numbers of students accessing higher education.
To date 140,000 students have been supported through government's National Student's Financial Aid scheme, which is helping to improve participation of the poor in higher education.
Other than improving access, we need to think about the type of graduate we produce at our universities.
To what extent are we affirming the African identity of this country and our people?
The graduates we produce should be Africans in culture and outlook. The kind of values imparted in our institutions impact heavily on our way of life.
The type of education and socialization received in universities determine how the graduates interpret the world around them, how they define values in our society and their relationships with other people. We should not make our graduates aliens in their own country. They will fail to fit in and play a meaningful role in the life of their country.
One other issue we should debate is the role of academics and the intellectual community in the public discourse in our country.
In the last 10 years we have seen the development of a highly contested terrain of ideas, and the development of a new science of mediated political analysis.
We respect the role of academics in the public debates as commentators and analysts.
We cannot expect neutrality or objectivity as people have social and political circumstances that shape their thinking and perspectives.
But we as society should at least expect fairness as well as informed analysis and commentary. We are just a few days away from elections and our television screens will soon be full of analysts who will be telling us what we think about issues, and how we are going to react to certain situations.
Analysts and commentators have to do everything possible to obtain information from and about the subjects of their commentary, so that the analysis is at least as close to reality or the truth as possible.
Compatriots, let me reiterate how pleased I am that we managed to meet.
As we mark 15 years of freedom soon, we are asking ourselves if we have progressed as a nation in developing our understanding of the challenges we face, and the tools required to address them.
We invite the academic community to help us as politicians to better respond to the socio-economic development imperatives of our country.
We hope to be enriched by your experiences and expertise in the new term of government, and as an organisation.
We believe that if we work together, within, we can do more for our country and its people.
I thank you.
Issued by:
African National Congress