This study presents and applies Agenda Setting theory or the Multiple Stream model by
Kingdon on the free higher education policy proposal in post-apartheid South Africa. The
aim was to uncover how and why free higher education has been elevated onto the agenda
of decision-makers; and why it is not yet an accepted policy proposal.
Kingdon argued that for a policy proposal to be considered, it must be technically feasible,
anticipate future constraints and receive enough political support or consensus. Apart from
that, the following streams of action must converge: the problem must be clearly defined,
feasible solutions offered and political consensus obtained. Using qualitative methods such
as thematic and documentary analysis to collect and analyse data, the study has discovered
that free higher education has been pushed onto the agenda because it was aimed at
addressing the problem of unequal access to higher education. Mechanisms such as
continual marches and protests by South African Students' Congress (SASCO) have been
used to push this policy proposal onto the government and decision agenda.
The study has also discovered that it is not yet an accepted policy proposal primarily
because it is considered to be not feasible by decision-makers. Furthermore, it has not
received enough political support or consensus. Lastly, it is not yet an accepted policy
proposal because the streams of action have not yet converged. The study shows that the
events in the policy and political streams have been the major hindrances for these streams
to meet despite a clear indication that the problem in question is significant: South African
higher education is still confronted by high university dropout rates.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ukzn/oai:http://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za:10413/5022 |
| Date | January 2010 |
| Creators | Edward, Letlisa Molantoa. |
| Contributors | Rieker, Mark Ivan. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en_ZA |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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