[Message from the President of IEASA, Dr Roshen Kishun]: We salute the thousands of South Africans From diverse racial backgrounds who 50 years ago put forward their vision, encapsulated in the Freedom Charter, to keep doors of education open. As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of this historic event we are aware of the Foundations laid then to allow us to reconnect to the world. In choosing “lessons in diversity' as the theme For the Sth edition of Study South Africa we support the need For South African higher education to keep its doors open in meeting the development challenges of Africa. The year 2005 has been described as critical For Africa because of a number of Factors that have come together. These include the New Partnership For Africa’s Development which spells out action plans to tackle some of the more intractable problems that Africa Faces, the Formation of the African Union with clear guidelines For governance and peace, and the Pan-African Parliament which promotes the concept of working together to solve the continent's problems. The launch of the Southern African Regional Universities Association in early 2005 by 45 of the region’s vice-chancellors recognised that the excellence and sustainability of university education, research and development will be a leading contributor to Future growth and poverty alleviation. Despite the tides of limited resources, external demands and internal policy challenges, the vice-chancellors were unequivocally committed to advancing the development agenda of higher education on the African continent. Critically, in recent years there has been acknowledgement of the ability of higher education to bring about economic and democratic reforms, as evidenced by the commitment and concerted efforts made by Foundations and funding agencies to support the improvement of higher education institutions in Africa. Most important from our perspective is the support for the ’’renewal’’ of higher education institutions as they are considered to be key vehicles For development on the continent. The Commission For Africa report, published in March 2005, endorses the Association of African Universities, Association of Commonwealth Universities and Higher Education South Africa’s joint 10-year partnership programme, Renewing the African University, The partnership programme calls, among other things, For constructive engagement between states and higher education institutions, increasing North-South and South-South collaboration, internationalisation of the curriculum and partnerships between universities and the corporate sector. The Commission makes clear its conviction that higher education's contribution to building professional skills and knowledge is key to achieving Fundamental development changes. The need for centres of excellence in science, technology and engineering is highlighted as key to Future development and growth. Higher education institutions need to be the “breeding ground For the skilled individuals whom the continent needs". The report stresses the need For urgent attention to be given to the management of natural resources, of Forests and water, improving sanitation and strengthening health systems to deal with pandemics such as malaria, tuberculosis and HIV-Aids. Other important developments needed are building the human and institutional capacity for good governance and strengthening leadership in public life, civil society and business. In Focusing on the theme “lessons in diversity’ the Guide captures the richness of the various “diversities ' in the South African higher education landscape. It describes the radical transformation of higher education in South Africa over more than a decade. It identifies South Africa's research system as being “by Far the biggest in Africa” and demonstrates the important role South African higher education can play in meeting the challenges of Africa. I hope that the information provided will allow those interested in South African education to make informed choices.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:rhodes/vital:28751 |
| Date | January 2005 |
| Creators | International Education Association of South Africa (IEASA), Kishun, Roshen |
| Publisher | International Education Association of South Africa (IEASA) |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text, book |
| Format | 99 pages, electronic, application/pdf |
| Rights | No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior permission from IEASA. Permission to use material contained in the university profiles must be obtained directly from the institutions concerned. The information in this publication was compiled from a variety of sources, and opinions expressed should not necessarily be taken to represent those of IEASA or HESA., International Education Association of South Africa (IEASA) |
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