The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has established a technical committee, comprising of senior officials in the region, to focus on revival strategies for higher education and training.

The technical committee would develop a higher education and training plan for the region, based on work undertaken by the Southern African University Association (Sarua), South African Deputy Higher Education and Training Minister Professor Hlengiwe Mkhize said on Tuesday.

The technical committee would further look at access and participation rates, the funding and capacity building of higher education, proper investments for the next 10 to 15 years, as well as research and monitoring.

The technical committee would draw up a policy for the region, which would translate into a regional strategic framework for higher education and training. “This will outline key priorities for both the short and long term. If all the plans made by the technical committee [were] effectively and successfully implemented, we would see a positive impact on the higher education and training sector within the SADC region,” Mkhize noted.

On the issue of the Congress of South African Trade Unions’ (Cosatu’s) call for South African universities to give priority to South African students instead of international ones, Mkhize said that the country was committed to supporting each and every student in higher education institutions, irrespective of their nationality.

“We will be following up the issue to hear more about Cosatu’s thinking, but our position is really to encourage students to freely move around between higher education institutes in the SADC region. We see this as a huge opportunity for all of us, as research capabilities, support networks and skills development and knowledge will be increased,” she noted.