Higher Education South Africa on Internationalism, Research and Innovation in Higher Education

Higher Education, Science and Innovation

03 September 2014
Chairperson: Ms Y Phosa (ANC)
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Meeting Summary

The Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training was briefed by the Higher Education South Africa (HESA) on the size, shape and funding of the Higher Education system, internationalisation, research and innovation. The Committee was told that South Africa spends less than a number of other countries in their Gross Domestic Product contributed to the Higher Education. It was indicated that South African institutions of Higher Education are constantly increasing in student enrollment each year thus the demand for resources remains high. Further, it was evident that State funding of Higher Education has been declining over the years despite student tuition fees being under pressure. In terms of internationalisation, it was deliberated if whether an appropriate balance between local and international students should be achieved in South Africa? The presentation referred to the absence of a broader internationalisation policy framework for the University sector as the reason why there has not been significant progress in achieving the goals of internationalisation.

South Africa produced the bulk of scientific research in Africa; this meant that research played an important part South Africa’s contribution to the continent. Moreover, research was important for social development in South Africa, hence its intervention was finding solutions to prevailing needs were crucial. The presentation highlighted that South Africa was ranked number 33rd in world publications outputs, which was remarkable.

There had been a slight increase of Doctoral enrolment by race and gender in South Africa. This meant that there had to be national, state-funded programmes for the next generation of academics in order to increase the proportion of academics with doctoral qualifications, increase the proportion of black and women academics and increase the proportion of African academics. The presentation stressed that internationalisation was important for the health of the Higher Education system in South Africa.

During the discussions which followed the presentation, Members said the insufficient funding issue was shocking. The Committee asked if the figures in the funding presentation included National Research Foundation funding. An ANC Member asked there was knowledge about the financial reserves kept by Universities. On local academics, she said it was significant that there had been a growth of international doctoral students in Universities. The Committee asked if foreign students come with bursaries from their countries. Did foreign students after their graduation go back to their countries or stayed in South Africa? Members asked if Alumni records were accessible.

The Chairperson asked for the outcome of the colloquium meeting that took place with the stakeholders of Higher Education as this could be a source for further deliberation in the future.

Meeting report

Opening Remarks by Chairperson

The Chairperson welcomed the officials from Higher Education South Africa and asked the Members of the Committee to introduce themselves. Apologies were received from the Minister and Deputy Minister of Higher Education who were both attending to Cabinet commitments. Apologies were tendered on behalf of Mr N Khubisa (NFP) and Mr C Kenana (ANC) asked to be relieved at 11am for a dentist appointment.

Ms J Kilian (ANC) had another meeting at 12:30pm and thus asked to leave early. Mr Tshitsonga also asked to leave earlier due to other commitment.

Briefing by Higher Education South Africa (HESA)

Dr Jeffery Mabelebele, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Higher Education South Africa said he will highlight the points of importance as the presentation was shared with Members.

Programme 1: Funding of Higher Education

Programme 1 focused on the shape and funding of the Higher Education system. South Africa had about 1 million students enrolled in various institutions. Government subsidy had been declining thus mainstream income and donors also declined as the demand for funding for students was overwhelming. Student fees were increased as a result. The call for adequate funding in Higher Education must be taken seriously. The Higher Education figures had been growing consistently and steadily. South Africa had around 16 000 academics in all institutions of Higher Education and there had been increase in the number of foreign academics. Funding for infrastructure did not match the current and projected growth of the system, enriches the experience of local students.

Programme 2: Internationalisation

In terms of programme 2: Internationalisation, the Committee was told that improving the quality of learning and teaching, global awareness, deeper engagement with global challenges, better preparation of students as national and global citizens, access to opportunities that are not available in South Africa. It also benefited the economy of South Africa as 7.5% of students in Higher Education were international students. There was a need to open the Higher Education to be internationally competitive. There had to be a balance between local and international students as this will help shift global perceptions about Africa and making it a destination of learning for international students.

Access to Higher Education institutions puts pressure on local students thus policy and regulatory environment such as the joint and double degree policy were being developed. Furthermore, immigration regulations were not favorable to internationalization and there should be an inquiry into some of the provisions of the current immigration regulations. Funding to foster joint research collaboration with other institutions around the world, absence of a broader internationalisation policy framework for the University sector is another obstacle that results to slower progress in internationalization were some of the constraints. Inadequate coordination mechanisms between government departments to support internationalisation effort of universities are an issue that must be addressed as soon as possible.

Programme 3: Importance of Research

Programme 3 focused on why research was important. Research was important because it provided for economic inclusion and social development. Research helped to solve national development challenges such as rural and agricultural development, food security, and land reform. As well in the case of research funding, the decline of funding was noticeable. Universities research outputs had only slightly increased and Doctoral graduate output had increased steadily. Research infrastructure funding did not match the current demand. There had been an increase in Doctoral research increase by race, especially Africans. However, in terms of performance, white students still performed better than Africans.

Constraints

Constraints included the fact that post-graduate student enrollment was relatively low to national development needs as it was seen that 36% of South Africa’s academic workforce held a doctorate. Other challenges included uneven research output in Universities andlimited post-graduate supervision capacities. As a result, transforming the social composition of the academic workforce and producing and retaining the next generation of academics was of paramount importance.

The proposed solutions included the need to develop and implement a national, state-funded programme for the next generation of academics and creating diverse funding instruments to support and retain post-graduate students.

Discussion

Prof Adam Habib, Chairperson of Higher Education South Africa said the challenges of Higher Education includedsubsidies decreasing, less money spent on students, 2/3 of the academic staff were international citizens not local and this was not good for transformation. There were competing challenges and there had to be an attempt to strike a balance.

Mr MahlubiMabizelaof the Department of Higher Education and Trainingspoke to the issue of the policy on internationalisation and expressed that the Department was not in favor of double degrees but in favor of joint degrees.  The policy framework on internationalisation was taking place and consultations with the African Union, to use their capacities for the betterment of the policy and funding possibilities. By the end of the financial year, the draft policy will be ready for scrunity.

The Chairperson asked Mr Mabizela to speak on the issue of differentiation.

Mr Mabizela indicated that the consultation process on differentiation was taking place and will soon be completed.

The Chairperson called for questions of clarity on the presentation

Prof B Bozzoli (DA) said the insufficient funding issue was shocking. She asked if the figures in the funding presentation included National Research Foundation funding.

Ms Kilian asked if there was knowledge about the financial reserves kept by Universities.On local academics, she said it was significant that there had been a growth of international doctoral students in Universities. Did foreign students come with bursaries from their countries? Did foreign students after their graduation go back to their countries or stayed in South Africa? She asked if Alumni records were accessible.

Mr S Mbatha (EFF) commented that the Higher Education may not survive its own journey as its capacities were not fulfilled. Universities like the FETs struggled the most due to the not having the historical benefit of donors. Target additional funding to Universities that did not have a lot of research outputs was important. He mentioned that PhD’s were usually awarded to students from other countries, funded by their governments. The South African government must take the same approach.

Mr Y Cassim (DA) asked for clarification on research degrees such as honours with research components. Was there funding options for students from previously disadvantaged backgrounds since NSFAS only covered the first degree? On SADC countries levies, why was this important anddid it act as a blockage for the accessibility of students to SA institutions?

Ms S Mchunu (ANC) asked about studentsnot in the education system. There was an alarming number in this regard and what was being done about that? How was South Africa doing in comparison to the other BRICS countries?

Mr C Kekana (ANC) said on the issue of immigration, the office of the President was looking into the matter and the regulation will be relaxed to allow teachers of Maths and Science from abroad to have accessto South Africa? Perhaps a joint meeting between this committee and the Department of Home Affairs should be planned to discuss this matter. South Africa must focus its research on the needs of its society.

Mr Mahlubi Mabizela, in response to the question of research funding said the Department was injecting a large percentage of its budget for research capacities in all different Universities. Perhaps, this amount may not be enough. However, in the next financial year, 2015/2016 there will be increase to these amounts. R2 Billion had been allocated to the top research output Universities, namely the University of Cape Town, Stellenbosch University, Wits and UKZN to accelerate their research outputs. On the SADC protocol, South Africa was compelled to have 5% minimum of enrollment from the region and currently there was about 6% of these students here in South Africa. There were 23 000 Zimbabweans in all South African higher education institutions. The 2 million young people between the age of 18 -24 years who were not in education, employment or training, was a very worrying fact and some sort of intervention must take place in this regard. The solution for these needs was with the broader society, as it reflected the state of poverty and unemployment. It was important to note that the Department of Higher Education and Training had limited resources.

On the National Digital Library, the Department was working with the Department of Science and Technology. The study had been done, particularly in adopting the Brazilian model. What needed to take place now was the consultation with the institutions and also to decide where the budgets for the project would be derived from. Access to information will be made available to the public at large. Fees for foreign students, is an issue of the Higher Education South Africa. SADC protocol requires that students from these countries must pay same fees as local students. In terms of producing more Masters and Doctorate students, there has been money put aside for specifically that reason. Research Development Council is a platform for the stakeholders to influence policy decisions on making sure that students are given the opportunity to study further.

Prof Adam Habib clarified that he was speaking within a collective mandate of Higher Education South Africa. What must be done by HESA to make sure that the advocacy was engaging and taken seriously? Creating collective research was a hard choice, because it must be made collectively. It does not help to tackle problems, by being not cooperative with all other parties with the common goal of Higher Education. He also called for an urgent need for all Vice-Chancellors and Treasury, to have a cross portfolio committee meeting. The system is governed by our history, disadvantage of black people and now their freedom to be what they want to be, who gets the resources to be what? The dilemma of producing multi-skills, vocational and high level intellectual skills, differentiation is thus crucial in this case. Institutions must collectively produce relevant skills and match them up with the Institutions and the resources shared fairly amongst these Institutions of Higher Education. The system must be thought through properly, a collective conversation must take place with all other stakeholders. The system must move much quicker, implementation planning and processes must not take decades.

Dr Max Price, Higher Education South Africa Vice-Chairperson, South African Development Community fees inadequacies, the real administrative costs for processing their applications, such as organizing their accommodation and other issues. The Department must investigate a fee that is possibly the same across all Universities in South Africa. International students enrich our society, however, profits is a matter in South Africa, as Universities must fund themselves. Most international students that come to South Africa are students from middle class environments in their own countries. Universities are competing with a global market, in which many other institutions pay better. There will be a drop of PhD students due to the stopping of the funding from SETA. In South Africa every University is allowed to give out PhD’s as compared to other countries where there are restrictions. There must be funding made available in order ensure that post-graduate students are successful. The Departments programme on the developing the next generation of academics looks positive and is likely to attract more students into academia in the future by providing them with jobs prior to their pursuit of their PhD’s. The system of funding in Universities has only survived because Universities have independently added to their fees; otherwise the system would have declined. Equity and redress components that attract students and serves the country well, for science and technology innovation.

DrJeffery Mabelebelesaid there had been a colloquium about the National Student Financial Aid Scheme with other relevant stakeholders, and there had been positive outcomes for the way forward. NRF funding was not sufficient at all and there needed to be collective contributions.

Prof Adam Habib said the norm of attaining a PhD is a 10 years process and Professorship even more years. These are challenges that must be taken into consideration. The research intensive Universities are the historically white Universities, there must be conversation and debate about these complexities. On the issue of funding, endowments are not in every University, some have reserves worth Billions, keeping in mind where the money is invested, such as assets that advance research through the return. The economy and Higher Education must always speak to each other, hence the must be a meeting with all stakeholders of Higher Education, and tackle all these keys questions and issues.

Mr Cassim asked about the implementation of SADC protocol and if any institutions were charging more than the norm? What was the normal amount for pay for administrative costs? Clarification on the programme that seeks to bring more students into post-graduate studies, next generation of academics?

The Chairperson asked what could be done about the xenophobic attacks on high level appointments and tensions to foreign academic staff by locals.The question on how to ensure equitable distribution of the transformation agenda in South Africa was asked.

Dr Max Price said a maximum of R3000 was the reasonable amount to ask from SADC administrative cost.

Mr MahlubiMabizela said residence fees were not subsidised by the Department. The amounts varied with each institution keeping its own costs. The suggestion about capping the amount was acceptable and should perhaps be pursued. 400 academic injected into the programme, 1200 in three years will be supported by the Department, and later continuity for another few years to sustain them in the system.

Prof Adam Habib said all Universities had career development programmes, so there must work together in that approach. Xenophobic tension which arised in the University of Venda led to the discovery that many Doctors left South Africa to the rest of the world causing South African universities to recruit from the rest of the continent. There was the struggle to get appropriately qualified staff in previously disadvantaged Universities.

Prof Bozzoli said the joint meeting with Treasury must be pursued.

Mr Cassim added that the issue of administrative costs added to SADC students must be investigated.

The Chairperson asked for the outcome of the colloquium meeting that took place with the stakeholders of Higher Education as this could be a source for further deliberation in the future.

The meeting was adjourned. 

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