The Blade just got sharperPresident Jacob Zuma has just signed the Higher Education Amendment Act. This gives Minister of Education, Blade Nzimande, greater powers to intervene in university matters and continues the government’s transformation plans for higher education in South Africa. What this means… It means that ol’ Blade has more control over the university councils, where they spend their money and how they run their universities. In addition, it means that Blade can do other cool stuff like declare new universities and give higher learning status to non-university institutions that meet certain requirements. I wonder what powers he’ll have next? Fire-breath? X-ray vision? Why it matters… The increased involvement of government in university dealings could be a good or a bad thing. If used properly, government could help to guide our tertiary institutions toward a more inclusive system for all South Africans, and act as a control unit on irresponsible spending. If used poorly, we could be in for a whole lot more problems. |
