Date: 15/04/2003
Source: Mpumalanga Provincial Government
Title: Padayachee: Conference on Mpumalanga National Institute for Higher Education


KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY MPUMALANGA MEC FOR EDUCATION, CRAIG PADAYACHEE, AT THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR HIGHER EDUCATION CONFERENCE, Nelspruit, 15 April 2003

Master of Ceremonies
Honoured Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen

I have great pleasure to be part of this great step towards the actualisation of the establishment of the all-important National Institute for Higher Education in the Province.

This concept of the National Institute for Higher Education is relatively new in South Africa. This newness provides both an opportunity and a threat. The danger is that we might be tempted to supplant, uncritically, other countries experiences of National Institute for Higher Education onto our own situation. Opportunity lies in the window of innovation provided by the virginity of the terrain. The moral of the story is that there is definite room for borrowing from other countries, but this has to be done with academic, intellectual and scientific circumspection. Another lesson, on the converse side, is that creativity is not excluded.

The lack of access and opportunity to pursue higher education is most stark in Mpumalanga and the Northern Cape, which were denied the presence and benefit of higher education institutions as they did not neatly fit into the larger ideological framework of "separate but equal development". After 1994, a concerted effort was mounted by the respective provincial governments, supported by the community more generally, to stake a claim for the establishment of higher education institution in the two provinces.

The validity of the claim was recognised by the Education Ministry. With the release of the National Plan on Higher Education in February 2001, it became apparent that it was not appropriate to establish autonomous higher education institutions given the broader institutional restructuring process, but it was necessary to address the existing proliferation of higher education programmes in the province by a range of institutions, which were "uncoordinated, characterized by unhealthy competition, including overlap and duplication, and often with little relevance to provincial needs". (Kader Asmal).

The National Plan therefore proposed the establishment of a National Institute for Higher Education to serve as the administrative and governance hub for ensuring the coherent provision of higher education in response to regional needs, through programme collaboration between the higher education institutions currently operating in Mpumalanga.

The National Working Group report provides a conceptual framework for the establishment of the National Institute for Higher Education in Mpumalanga, and identifies the issues that require further investigation to facilitate implementation.

My department and the government consider this initiative as an important contribution to the broader challenge of developing the National Institute for Higher Education to address higher education provision in the province. Towards this end, the department has appointed Prof N V Magi, in collaboration with Scope, to take this process forward. This conference is one of the strategic vehicles to forge ahead with preparations to facilitate the establishment of the National Institute for Higher Education.

What could be the direct impact of the National Institute for Higher Education?
* Access to higher education would be enhanced
* Provision of demand-led programmes would have a positive impact on placement and employment opportunities for graduates
* The National Institute for Higher Education would promote research for the public and private sector that would be useful for the province
* Professional training would be enhanced in various fields, especially in medicine, technology and in the labour market
* Adult education would be enhanced, especially productivity
* The transfer of knowledge and technology would reshape the economic and socio-cultural life of the province.

Indirect benefits could be derived from the envisaged National Institute for Higher Education and these would include:
* Local and regional economic development
* Social and cultural development through the provision of visual and performance arts
* Strengthening of the regional identity and increasing the political weight of the region
* Internationalisation of the region by faculty and students, thereby establishing international linkanges
* The National Institute for Higher Education will have an important impact on the local schools and colleges, including private providers.

Briefly stated, the National Institute for Higher Education will:
(1) provide new access for higher education;
(2) broaden professional education and training;
(3) assist regional economic growth and diversification; and
(4) foster new social and cultural development opportunities.

What challenges are envisaged in this regard?

We need the broad commitment of all stakeholders for the National Institute for Higher Education to make a significant impact in the region - economically, socially, politically and culturally. The National Institute for Higher Education is established and introduced to us to provide access to a condition of greater equality.

This conference is the culmination of a long consultative process that was initiated by the Working Group in 2001. It is heartening to note that there is increased and inclusive participation in this process. I hope the conference will focus on issues that matter to get the institute established.

The department supports this initiative and the establishment of the National Institute for Higher Education in this province is long overdue. In closing, "change is frightening process, holding within it the reality of resistance from the world onside, which has different practices and beliefs. It means swimming against the tide *" (anonymous).

I look forward to a fruitful and constructive and innovative conference that will usher a new landscape in higher education. The conference proceedings, which are seen as crucial to the advocacy of policy and wider provincial stakeholder engagement in the process aims to:
* present a plan of action
* highlight the implementation challenges for the National Institute for Higher Education
* place the National Institute for Higher Education within the context of other national challenges such as accommodating the National Institute for Higher Education in the Higher Education Act; and
* chart the way forward for the establishment of the National Institute for Higher Education in the province.

Your participation is greatly valued. - I thank you.

Issued by the Mpumalanga Provincial Government, 15 April 2003