Look closely. Slowly but surely the academic and organisational cultures of our universities are being broken down in front of our very eyes.
This breakdown of campus cultures is being ruthlessly executed by the narrow interests of political parties who really do not care a damn about the future of higher learning in our country.
From 2015 these parties decided there were two primary spaces in which to contest each other politically – in parliament and on campuses. With President Jacob Zuma effectively on his way out, political theatrics in parliament are now much less attractive than in places where tens of thousands of students descend on college and university campuses for registration.
Outgoing president Zuma started the trouble when he opportunistically decided to announce free higher education as the governing party entered its elective conference. This irresponsible decision flew in the face of the president’s own commission, led by Judge Jonathan Heher, which studied the feasibility of free higher education and concluded this ideal was not possible at the present time.
The Zuma declaration was like a Christmas gift to the EFF, which decided to make political hay out of this sunshine announcement.
Students, whether they had applied for studies or not, were instructed to “walk in” to the 26 public university campuses and demand to be registered for studies – for free, of course.
No matter that universities have dates determined long in advance for applications. Or that in professional fields such as medicine and physiotherapy, those dates closed as far back as mid-2017. Or that applications for state funding are also subject to closing dates.
Nor did it matter that thousands of “‘walk-ins” demanding places could jeopardise the lives of young people, as in the tragic case of the University of Johannesburg student who was crushed to death in a 2012 registration stampede.
Anxious vice-chancellors, through their organisation, Universities South Africa, responded to this tussle between Zuma and Julius Malema with a plea not to make the call for free higher education “a political football”.
The problem, of course, is that South Africans like football.
We ended 2017 on an ominous note. Our leading research university convened its final examinations in a massive marquee on a sports field to better manage the security risk of disruption.
From a management point of view, I can see how this not only made sense but may also have been the only option.
But the barbed wire, patrol guards and attack dogs inevitably brought to mind images of concentration camps, not of cultured campuses.
As a consequence of these developments, we are now faced with an interesting new trend among middle-class students – internal migration.
The top academic students in South Africa are increasingly choosing, from among the elite universities, those institutions perceived to be more stable.
Sad, but it makes sense. A high fee-paying parent is as interested in the quality of the degree as in the safety and security of his or her child. Several deans and department heads from our top two English universities have told me about how they are being affected by internal migration. A university is like any other organisation in the sense that it needs rules, regulations and routines for conducting its work.
A prospective student applies and if successful is registered for a diploma or degree, at which point payment is made, enabling the student to pursue a course of studies at the end of which the passing candidate graduates.
That lengthy chain from application to graduation, which involves 30000 or more students, is an extremely complex processes that is time-sensitive and cost-sensitive.
When a populist leader calls for “walk-ins” in defiance of these processes, it collapses not only the systems of organisations but the very culture universities seek to establish around things such as timely applications for available places.
As we enter 2018 I have little doubt that in the course of time even the universities perceived to be more stable will be swallowed up by the demise of campus cultures under the reckless populism of political parties. And here you find one of the first threats to democracy – the destruction of public institutions.
Township and rural schools serving the majority remain paralysed by decades of protest that effectively destroyed the cultures of these institutions. About half our public universities are already in the same position – poor quality teaching institutions constantly battling disruptions of academic timetables and administrative systems.
Now this demise threatens all our universities and, when that happens, internal migration will be replaced by external migration by those who can afford to leave.
Political opportunists breaking down essential cultures of our universities
This breakdown of campus cultures is being ruthlessly executed by the narrow interests of political parties who really do not care a damn about the future of higher learning in our country.
From 2015 these parties decided there were two primary spaces in which to contest each other politically – in parliament and on campuses. With President Jacob Zuma effectively on his way out, political theatrics in parliament are now much less attractive than in places where tens of thousands of students descend on college and university campuses for registration.
Outgoing president Zuma started the trouble when he opportunistically decided to announce free higher education as the governing party entered its elective conference. This irresponsible decision flew in the face of the president’s own commission, led by Judge Jonathan Heher, which studied the feasibility of free higher education and concluded this ideal was not possible at the present time.
The Zuma declaration was like a Christmas gift to the EFF, which decided to make political hay out of this sunshine announcement.
Students, whether they had applied for studies or not, were instructed to “walk in” to the 26 public university campuses and demand to be registered for studies – for free, of course.
No matter that universities have dates determined long in advance for applications. Or that in professional fields such as medicine and physiotherapy, those dates closed as far back as mid-2017. Or that applications for state funding are also subject to closing dates.
Nor did it matter that thousands of “‘walk-ins” demanding places could jeopardise the lives of young people, as in the tragic case of the University of Johannesburg student who was crushed to death in a 2012 registration stampede.
Anxious vice-chancellors, through their organisation, Universities South Africa, responded to this tussle between Zuma and Julius Malema with a plea not to make the call for free higher education “a political football”.
The problem, of course, is that South Africans like football.
We ended 2017 on an ominous note. Our leading research university convened its final examinations in a massive marquee on a sports field to better manage the security risk of disruption.
From a management point of view, I can see how this not only made sense but may also have been the only option.
But the barbed wire, patrol guards and attack dogs inevitably brought to mind images of concentration camps, not of cultured campuses.
As a consequence of these developments, we are now faced with an interesting new trend among middle-class students – internal migration.
The top academic students in South Africa are increasingly choosing, from among the elite universities, those institutions perceived to be more stable.
Sad, but it makes sense. A high fee-paying parent is as interested in the quality of the degree as in the safety and security of his or her child. Several deans and department heads from our top two English universities have told me about how they are being affected by internal migration. A university is like any other organisation in the sense that it needs rules, regulations and routines for conducting its work.
A prospective student applies and if successful is registered for a diploma or degree, at which point payment is made, enabling the student to pursue a course of studies at the end of which the passing candidate graduates.
That lengthy chain from application to graduation, which involves 30000 or more students, is an extremely complex processes that is time-sensitive and cost-sensitive.
When a populist leader calls for “walk-ins” in defiance of these processes, it collapses not only the systems of organisations but the very culture universities seek to establish around things such as timely applications for available places.
As we enter 2018 I have little doubt that in the course of time even the universities perceived to be more stable will be swallowed up by the demise of campus cultures under the reckless populism of political parties. And here you find one of the first threats to democracy – the destruction of public institutions.
Township and rural schools serving the majority remain paralysed by decades of protest that effectively destroyed the cultures of these institutions. About half our public universities are already in the same position – poor quality teaching institutions constantly battling disruptions of academic timetables and administrative systems.
Now this demise threatens all our universities and, when that happens, internal migration will be replaced by external migration by those who can afford to leave.
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