EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1. The National Working Group (NWG) was established by the Minister of Education in April 2001 to advise on restructuring the institutional landscape of higher education, as outlined in the National Plan for Higher Education, which was released in March 2001. 

2. This report represents the NWG’s recommendations to the Minister of Education on appropriate arrangements for consolidating the provision of higher education on a regional basis through establishing new institutional and organisational forms, including reducing the number of higher education institutions.  

3. The NWG took as its point of departure the emphasis in the National Plan on the need to ensure the "fitness for purpose" of the higher education system, that is, the extent to which the elements constituting the structures and operations of the system are suited and well-equipped to fulfil effectively those functions which are its raison d'être, thus enhancing the quality of the higher education system. 

4. The NWG undertook its investigations and arrived at its recommendations through considering relevant policy documents, outcomes of previous investigations and data in relation to the recent and current trends of the higher education system. It formulated a number of guiding principles to frame its work and shape its recommendations and developed an associated set of performance indicators and linked benchmarks. Meetings were held with various higher education constituencies and written submissions on institutional mergers and collaboration were invited. It also took cognisance of international experiences of mergers in higher education. 

5. The NWG's recommendations are two-fold. The first relates to a number of general issues which cut across all regions. The second is a set of proposals and recommendations for the consolidation of higher education provision on a regional basis through establishing new institutional and organisational forms, including a reduction in the number of higher education institutions from 36 to 21 through mergers. 

6. GENERAL ISSUES AND ASSOCIATED RECOMMENDATIONS: 

  1. Regional Collaboration: The NWG believes that there is considerable room for structured forms of regional collaboration, but is not in favour of regional collaboration being completely left to the free will of institutions. It believes that regional collaboration could best be promoted by applying an appropriate mix of incentives and sanctions through utilising the programme approval and funding processes outlined in the National Plan for Higher Education. 
  2. Universities and Technikons: The NWG supports the view that universities and technikons should continue to operate as higher education institutions with distinct programmes and mission foci. It does not support the suggestion that technikons be renamed Universities of Technology, but is of the view that an alternative such as "Institute of Technology" could be considered, where this status is appropriate. 
  3. Comprehensive Institutions: In some cases where it is considered appropriate, given particular circumstances and conditions, the NWG recommends, as part of a single co-ordinated system, the merger of a university and a technikon to establish a comprehensive institution. The NWG believes such institutions should facilitate the effective and efficient provision of higher education, but cautions that in these forms of combinations great care should be taken to prevent academic drift. 
  4. The College Sector: The NWG recommends that colleges of agriculture and nursing should be integrated into and administered as part of the higher education system. It has, in a number of instances, included these colleges as integral parts of its merger proposals. 
  5. Distance Education: The NWG recommends that in line with the National Plan for Higher Education distance education programmes at traditionally residential institutions should be strictly regulated without jeopardising, however, those programmes that are of high quality and meet agreed national and regional needs. 
  6. Satellite Campuses: The NWG supports the proposals in the National Plan for Higher Education to regulate satellite campuses and to stop their unplanned proliferation. 

7. REGIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS 

The NWG advances the following proposals and recommendations for the consolidation of higher education provision on a regional basis through establishing new institutional and organisational forms: 

The Eastern Cape 

  1. Port Elizabeth Technikon and the University of Port Elizabeth should merge into one unitary institution, with the Port Elizabeth campus of Vista University incorporated into the merged institution. The new institution should be a comprehensive one offering both university-type and technikon-type programmes, guarding against academic drift, but with optimal articulation arrangements put in place. 
  2. Border Technikon and Eastern Cape Technikon should merge into one unitary institution, with two primary sites in East London and Umtata as well as with campuses elsewhere in the region. The exact locations of these additional campuses, including the future of the current Butterworth campus, should be determined by the new merged technikon in consultation with the Ministry of Education. 
  3. The University of Fort Hare, Rhodes University and the medical school of the University of Transkei should merge into one unitary institution. The new institution should develop an East London campus which will be the base from which the new institution will grow, looking in the first instance at the development of information, communication and technology programmes. 
  4. The remaining academic programmes of the University of Transkei should be discontinued with the necessary provision made to enable existing students to complete their studies. The infrastructure of the University of Transkei should form the core of the academic activities in Umtata of the new technikon. It could also be used as a learning centre for the new Open Learning University of South Africa, which was recently announced by the Minister of Education. 
  5. The Fort Hare campus of the new merged university should diminish its academic programmes, keeping and developing a core of those programmes in which it is particularly strong. 
  6. Only the merged new technikon and new merged university should offer contact education in East London and in the rural eastern part of the Eastern Cape. Only the new merged distance education institution should be permitted to offer distance education programmes in this region. 

The Free State 

  1. Technikon Free State and the University of the Free State should be retained as separate and independent institutions. Both institutions, however, should give priority to issues of increasing access and equity, improving success rates and should apply themselves to the development of an enabling environment in which all South Africans can pursue their studies unhampered by social and cultural impediments. 
  2. In consultation with the Department of Education, serious consideration should be given to the rationalisation of unnecessary overlap and duplication. Any academic drift away from the current offering of technikon-type programmes should be avoided. 
  3. The Bloemfontein campus of Vista University should be incorporated into University of the Free State. 
  4. The Welkom campus of Vista University should be incorporated into Technikon Free State, with suitable provision being taken to ensure that current undergraduate degree students are able to complete their programmes of study. 
  5. Consideration should be given to merging the nursing and agricultural colleges of the province with either the University of the Free State or Technikon Free State. 

Gauteng 

  1. Rand Afrikaans University, the University of Pretoria and the University of the Witwatersrand should be retained as separate and independent institutions. However, all three universities should give priority to issues of access and equity and to serious regional collaboration with a view to rationalisation as well as strengthening of programmes through co-ordination and consolidation. These should at a minimum include the disciplines of medicine, dentistry, business and management, engineering and the performing and creative arts. 
  2. All three universities should pay special attention to the development of an enabling environment in which all South Africans can pursue their studies unhampered by social and cultural impediments.
  3. The three technikons in the Tshwane metropole, namely, Technikon Northern Gauteng, Technikon North-West and Technikon Pretoria should be merged into one unitary institution with two sites, one at the current Technikon Northern Gauteng site and the second at the current Technikon Pretoria site. 
  4. The feasibility of Technikon North-West's infrastructure and resources being put to other uses, for example further education, while its students and staff are accommodated in the new merged technikon, should be explored. 
  5. Technikon Witwatersrand should be retained as a separate and independent institution. However, the institution should give priority to regional collaboration, particularly the optimal collaboration of its school of engineering with other schools in the region. 
  6. Vaal Triangle Technikon should be retained as a separate and independent institution and the facilities of the Sebokeng campus of Vista University allocated to it to allow growth. The students and staff of the Sebokeng campus should be incorporated into the Vaal Triangle campus of the merged Potchefstroom University for CHE and the University of the North-West.
  7. The Mamelodi campus of Vista University should be incorporated into University of Pretoria.
  8. Rand Afrikaans University, the University of the Witwatersrand and Technikon Witwatersrand should jointly propose to the Minister of Education how the East Rand and Soweto campuses of the Vista University could best be used to facilitate the access of students to higher education. These proposals should form the basis for deciding the most appropriate institutional allocation for the Vista campuses. 
  9. The recent distance education developments at the University of Pretoria and at Pretoria Technikon should be reviewed and where appropriate discontinued. 

KwaZulu-Natal 

  1. The merger of ML Sultan Technikon and Technikon Natal should be brought to a speedy conclusion.
  2. Mangosuthu Technikon should be merged with the new technikon; this merger should be phased in, with negotiations starting immediately after the appointment of an Interim Council for the new merged technikon. 
  3. The University of Durban-Westville and the University of Natal should merge into one unitary institution, with serious consideration given to the rationalisation of programme offerings across the three campuses. 
  4. The University of Zululand should refocus its mission and become a comprehensive institution offering technikon-type programmes as well as a limited number of relevant university-type programmes, with its future growth being in the technikon programme area, and with major involvement in the Richards Bay region. 
  5. The Umlazi campus of the University of Zululand should be used by the new merged technikon, with appropriate arrangements made for existing university students to complete their programmes of study. 
  6. Apart from the one urban university and one urban technikon, and apart from the one comprehensive rural institution offering both technikon and university programmes, no other publicly funded higher education institutions should be allowed to offer programmes in the province, with the exception of the new dedicated distance education institution. 

The Northern Province 

  1. The University of the North, University of Venda and Medunsa should be merged into one unitary institution.
  2. All the colleges of nursing and agriculture of the province should be incorporated into the new institution. 
  3. The new institution should extend the range of offerings available in the province by developing and introducing technikon-type vocational programmes and qualifications, in keeping with the need-profile of the region and preferably in such a way that different types of educational strengths are concentrated on different campuses. 
  4. Medunsa should continue to offer its current range of programmes and qualifications in the health sciences but its programmes in science should be rationalised through the building of optimal forms of synergy with the other two campuses. 
  5. Medunsa’s Faculty of Dentistry should be retained and it should focus more and more on the needs of the northern parts of the country. 
  6. The Ministry of Education should, in consultation with the new institution, assess, investigate and make decisions on the relocation (over the medium to long-term) of Medunsa’s programmes and infrastructure to the Northern Province. 

North West 

  1. The Potchefstroom University for CHE and the University of the North-West should merge to form one unitary multi-campus institution for the North West Province. The new institution should be encouraged to refocus, over time, the mission of the North-West campus by introducing more technikon-type programmes to meet the specific vocational and technological needs of the region. 
  2. As part of this merger, the Vaal Triangle campus of Potchefstroom University should be retained and its telematic programmes regulated within the provisions of new government policy in this regard. 
  3. The nursing and agricultural colleges of the province should be incorporated into the new institution. 
  4. The students and staff (but not the facilities) of the Sebokeng campus of Vista University should be incorporated into the new institution. 

The Western Cape 

  1. The University of Cape Town, the University of Stellenbosch and Cape Technikon should be retained as separate and independent institutions. All three institutions, however, should give priority to issues of access and equity and to serious regional collaboration, including programme rationalisation. 
  2. The Universities of Cape Town and Stellenbosch should establish a single platform for the teaching of the health sciences and the performing and creative arts as a matter of urgency (recognising that cognisance must also be taken of allied programmes offered by other institutions in the Western Cape). Further areas where consolidation of programmes can be achieved, at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, including the areas already identified by the regional consortium, should be actively explored in close co-operation with the Department of Education. 
  3. The University of Cape Town, the University of Stellenbosch and Cape Technikon should apply themselves to the development of an enabling environment in which all South Africans can pursue their studies unhampered by social and cultural impediments. 
  4. As a form of reconfiguration, the University of Stellenbosch should pay particular attention to the enrolment and support of significant numbers of contact African and under-prepared Afrikaans-speaking students.
  5. Peninsula Technikon and the University of the Western Cape should merge to form one unitary comprehensive institution offering both university-type and technikon-type programmes, guarding against academic drift, but with optimal articulation arrangements put in place. 
  6. The Western Cape College of Nursing should be merged with the new institution. 
  7. The dentistry schools of the University of the Western Cape and the University of Stellenbosch should be merged into a single school and should be located in the new comprehensive institution. There should be close collaboration between this school and the medical schools of the Universities of Cape Town and Stellenbosch. 

8. IMPLEMENTING THE PROPOSALS 

The NWG is firmly of the view that the successful implementation of its recommendations requires: 

  1. The commitment of the government to make available the necessary financial resources both to facilitate merger processes (including the removal of current debt burdens) and to implement the myriad consequences of mergers in particular, and to enable the higher education system to discharge its mandate in general. This requires the leveraging of additional resources from both the private and the public sectors, to ensure that the higher education system is adequately funded. 
  2. The commitment and political will of the Government to restructuring. It requires the Ministry to act decisively in clarifying its response to the recommendations and in initiating the formal legal processes that are necessary to give effect to the merger proposals. 
  3. The commitment of the institutions and institutional constituencies to the success of the merger process, as well as the engagement of expertise to facilitate and support the merger process. 
  4. The setting of clear targets and time-frames for the different processes and phases of the merger process, both formal in terms of the establishment of the interim councils, as well as substantive in terms of the range of issues that have to be addressed. 
  5. The development of a social plan, as proposed in the Council on Higher Education’s report (June 2000) to provide a framework for addressing the human resource implications. These include developing measures to minimise job losses as well as a process for ensuring compliance with the obligations of the Labour Relations Act. 

9. The NWG identified a number of issues, which are critical for the successful restructuring of the higher education system, but which fall outside its Terms of Reference. These issues are referred to the Minister for his consideration and further investigation. 

10. The NWG believes that the implementation of its recommendations will result in the fundamental restructuring of the higher education system. It will transform the apartheid edifice of the higher education system and lay the foundation for a higher education system that is consistent with the vision, values and principles of our young and vibrant democratic order.