Two Walter Sisulu University (WSU) qualifications, one that was stripped of its accreditation, and another which was never accredited, have been given the nod by the Council of Higher Education (CHE).
On Tuesday the university announced that they would now be able to offer accredited qualifications in bachelor of health sciences in medical orthotics and prosthetics, and a bachelor of social sciences qualification from next year.
This is after the council gave the Eastern Cape based institution the green light to offer such qualifications.
In 2015, the council withdrew the university’s accreditation to offer a social science degree, citing the lack of staff and poor infrastructure to support the degree.
The last first year intake for the social science degree was in 2015.
The health science degree in medical orthotics and prosthetics, was never accredited since its inception in 2013.
In 2017 the university was dealt another blow when the council stopped it from offering LLB degrees in the law faculty, effectively from January 2019.
This was after the CHE discovered during an assessment of 21 South African universities, that WSU’s LLB programme had under-qualified lecturers and its lecture halls were not suitable for use.
In a media statement issued on Tuesday, the university’s spokesperson Yonela Tukwayo said, with the recent nod, the university would be able to offer these programmes at the beginning of the academic year in 2020.
Tukwayo said the social sciences qualification got full accreditation, “following a submission of an improved plan, which addressed specific indicators that had been raised during the national review which led to the previous withdrawal of the accreditation”.
Tukwayo said the medical orthotics and prosthetics qualification had received a conditional accreditation.
“This means that the health sciences faculty will be allowed to take new applicants for this qualification for 2020.
“However WSU will have to update some minor adjustments to documents already submitted.”
Last year the Dispatch reported that the university had been offering the health science degree for the past seven years.
This was although the Health Professionals Council of SA, department of higher education & training and other bodies had not given the green light for the degree.
The university stopped taking first time students in the programme which currently has an enrolment of 74 students.
The university subsequently revealed that it had entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Durban University of Technology for the cohort of students who were currently enrolled in the programme to graduate there.
“The medical orthotics and prosthetics accreditation was not awarded retrospectively and the current cohort of students will graduate under Durban University of Technology,” said Tukwayo.
Tukwayo said the positive response from CHE had brought much vigour to the WSU academic teams to maintain accreditation of all programmes.
“The management team has all hands on deck to make WSU a great institution for higher learning for the benefit of our students and communities around us,” said Tukwayo, adding that energies were now focused on getting the LLB programme accredited and back on track.
arethal@dispatch.co.za
WSU gets nod to restore courses stripped of accreditation
Image: File
Two Walter Sisulu University (WSU) qualifications, one that was stripped of its accreditation, and another which was never accredited, have been given the nod by the Council of Higher Education (CHE).
On Tuesday the university announced that they would now be able to offer accredited qualifications in bachelor of health sciences in medical orthotics and prosthetics, and a bachelor of social sciences qualification from next year.
This is after the council gave the Eastern Cape based institution the green light to offer such qualifications.
In 2015, the council withdrew the university’s accreditation to offer a social science degree, citing the lack of staff and poor infrastructure to support the degree.
The last first year intake for the social science degree was in 2015.
The health science degree in medical orthotics and prosthetics, was never accredited since its inception in 2013.
In 2017 the university was dealt another blow when the council stopped it from offering LLB degrees in the law faculty, effectively from January 2019.
This was after the CHE discovered during an assessment of 21 South African universities, that WSU’s LLB programme had under-qualified lecturers and its lecture halls were not suitable for use.
In a media statement issued on Tuesday, the university’s spokesperson Yonela Tukwayo said, with the recent nod, the university would be able to offer these programmes at the beginning of the academic year in 2020.
Tukwayo said the social sciences qualification got full accreditation, “following a submission of an improved plan, which addressed specific indicators that had been raised during the national review which led to the previous withdrawal of the accreditation”.
Tukwayo said the medical orthotics and prosthetics qualification had received a conditional accreditation.
“This means that the health sciences faculty will be allowed to take new applicants for this qualification for 2020.
“However WSU will have to update some minor adjustments to documents already submitted.”
Last year the Dispatch reported that the university had been offering the health science degree for the past seven years.
This was although the Health Professionals Council of SA, department of higher education & training and other bodies had not given the green light for the degree.
The university stopped taking first time students in the programme which currently has an enrolment of 74 students.
The university subsequently revealed that it had entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Durban University of Technology for the cohort of students who were currently enrolled in the programme to graduate there.
“The medical orthotics and prosthetics accreditation was not awarded retrospectively and the current cohort of students will graduate under Durban University of Technology,” said Tukwayo.
Tukwayo said the positive response from CHE had brought much vigour to the WSU academic teams to maintain accreditation of all programmes.
“The management team has all hands on deck to make WSU a great institution for higher learning for the benefit of our students and communities around us,” said Tukwayo, adding that energies were now focused on getting the LLB programme accredited and back on track.
arethal@dispatch.co.za
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