The South African Universities Post – Merger Mess: Problems and Challenges of Transformation

Training South African clinician-scientists: Lessons from the University of Cape Town’s intercalated programme

“…Negotiating with funders is necessary to alleviate this barrier, considering the calls to, and necessity of, transforming SA's academic workforce. [8,9] Funding issues are also compounded if students wish to continue with an intercalated MSc or PhD. Funding for the entire programme, akin to the National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded MD/PhD programmes in the USA, may need to be considered if the cohort is to increase in size and ethnic diversity.…”

Decolonising the future in the untransformed present in South African higher education

“…They continue that since the advent of democracy, there has been no significant improvement because, of the over zealousness of the democratic government to engineer change for the sake of change or for symbolic purposes (Jansen, 2002). Karodia et al (2015) further add most South African higher education institutions, especially traditional and historic apartheid White universities, claim that they are working towards the transformation of the racial demographics of their academic staff, though there is little or no evidence to support this claim. This suggests that there are several claims of transformative practice but with little or no accompanying proof to back up such claims.…”

“…Karodia et al (2015) argue that the quality of education in South African universities has been compromised for approximately two decades. They continue that since the advent of democracy, there has been no significant improvement because, of the over zealousness of the democratic government to engineer change for the sake of change or for symbolic purposes (Jansen, 2002).…”

“…Decolonising the university hegemony is a step towards taking African experiences and perspectives to the rest of the world. Examples such as the Desai affair, the university's suspension of Professor Evan Mantzaris for criticising management, the suspension of Nithaya Chetty and John van den Berg for "not exercising due care in communicating with the media" demonstrates the destructive power of university hegemony (Karodia et al, 2015;Patel, 2006). These affairs indicate that the era of university hegemony has past and a new era that heralds democracy and negates the "prevailing culture of incivility and racial stereotyping that further impedes the free exchange of ideas" (Patel, 2006: 231).…”

Strategic Challenges of Mergers and Acquisitions in the Higher Education Sector

“…In most countries the consolidation of universities is a bottom up process, but the tendencies to connect at the central level are reflected in public policies. In some countries, for example in South Africa, Russia, China and Norway, top-down consolidations, which are more controversial, are also conducted (Karodia, Shaikh, & Soni, 2015). The objectives of mergers are therefore diverse and may include: entry into the 'world league of universities', rationalisation of education and research networks, as well as restructuring aimed at increasing the efficiency of the education process (Cai, 2016).…”