Date: 28/03/2008
Source: Department of Education
Title: SA: Pandor: HERS-SA conference

Address by the Minister of Education, Naledi Pandor MP, at the closing of the HERS-SA conference

Vice Chancellors
Participants from the rest of the continent
Delegates

It is very difficult to attempt to present a closing address at a conference you did not attend. The themes and the list of speakers indicate that all the relevant issues have been addressed and that a range of solutions have begun to emerge.

Let me begin by congratulating HERS-SA and their partners for taking up the important challenge of women's empowerment and development in higher education leadership. The leadership of HERS-SA has begun to play a vital role in promoting gender equity in higher education and in building a sustainable forum for debate on the key challenge confronting higher education leadership.

The first issue to address is the university itself. Universities are the places we plan to change into spaces of innovative change and dynamic transformation.
It is interesting that while we seek change from the institution, we are nevertheless generally satisfied with its core characteristics and practices. The manner of teaching and assessing, the practices of curriculum development, and the structures of institutional and statutory governance are largely as they have been for hundreds of years.

South Africa has had a democratic Constitution for fourteen years. It is transformative in context and intent. Yet if we were to examine all universities against the precepts of our Bill of Rights, we would have to agree that university practices fall short of its ideals. The Constitution asserts equality and non-discrimination. Yet we meet periodically to debate exclusion and discrimination.

The question that arises from this somewhat negative review of the university is: what changes would women leadership bring to the institution? Would there be greater attention to transformation?

I shall return to this matter of what should she bring later. I'd like to set out a brief outline of my own definition of transformation.

Firstly, a key attribute of a transforming institution is one that unreservedly embeds non-racism, non-sexism, and democracy in all its practices. Institutions of higher learning should not be able to hide behind our legacies as a means of explaining negative practices.

Recently, a prominent 'friend' of the University of Free State (UFS) to me that the "problems" at Reitz residence arose because the desegregation decision was implemented too speedily by the university leadership fourteen years after our democracy.

It was absolutely clear to me that she had no appreciation of the fact that one of the leading features of higher education has been to lead and stimulate change rather than to mutely hold on to old offensive practices.

Our universities should be leading examples and teachers of key constitutional principles students and staff, black, white or grey, male or female should know that once they enter university gates they are non-racist, non-sexist and so on. If they cannot live by that expected standard, they must know they will have to exit the institution.

Secondly, there has to be a shared understanding that while universities are places for loads of fun, their specific mandate is to support education and success.

The very low through-put rates of our universities are a serious cause for concern more serious because it appears institutions are happy to admit failure, and few devote deliberate attention to supporting and rewarding success.

Thirdly, university should be about personal growth, intellectual maturity and an introduction to the world beyond our borders. Recent statistics and research on student sexual beliefs and conduct indicate we are failing to address personal growth our HIV statistics for young people point to the challenge. Drug and alcohol abuse also point to the challenge.

Sexual harassment and homophobic attitudes directly indicate the empowerment gaps that should be attended to. On the intellectual side, students should be challenged and stimulated by new knowledge and new skills. We should have a clearer conception of the kind of graduate we intend to see walking out of our gates. On the subject of beyond our borders, all our graduates should have to learn a foreign language or one of our 11 official languages as part of our beyond our borders curricula.

Fourthly, our institutions should be based on a fundamental belief in democratic values and practices. It is worrisome that the Reitz students chose African women as their victims and that the marches were not about the women but about racial discrimination. All workers, at all levels should be equally protected in all our institutions by all of us. To what degree do we share onus of protecting all who are vulnerable?

With respect to democracy it is interesting to note that as structures of governance change 'for the better' old negative practices are revived or sustained. All of you will recall how new Vice Chancellors are appointed through open engagement with stakeholders, through public addresses and open question sessions. Once appointed, there is never a university wide forum, never open discussion of university finances, never stakeholder engagement and rarely direct access to the once very accessible candidate.

What is the point of this rather tedious assault on university? The intention is to provide our aspirant women leaders some indication of the agenda we expect them to pursue. The time has come for leaders in all sectors to earn support rather than to expect support because of their race, gender or any other status.

HERS-SA is a very important part of setting out that agenda of a core platform of obligations that will be imposed on new leadership and evaluated by HERS and others as we all execute our particular roles. I know that the various panellists reflected on the inequity that exists at senior and other levels in higher education and in other sectors.

This closing contribution has attempted to avoid repeating earlier addresses while setting out the expectation that women leaders should show courage that is currently absent by directly giving attention to the transformation tasks that continue to need real action from all stakeholders in higher education. We trust that in promoting women leadership in higher education we will not clone practices and approaches that have not turned higher education on its head.

Issued by: Department of Education
28 March 2008