- The university sector in South Africa is in crisis. In a CDE Roundtable discussion on the role of business in universities, participants were asked to identify major issues affecting the university sector.
- From 1994 to 1997, the matric cohort grew by over 5% per annum, but university entrance passes dropped from 88 000 to 69 000.
- There are too many ‘universities’ but not enough institutions to respond to the country’s development needs.
- Universities lack resources to institute new programmes because only existing student enrolments are subsidy-earning and when a new programme is launched it takes two years for the subsidy to come through.
- Business is unlikely to commit additional intellectual and financial resources without clarity of purpose and a sense of forward movement in higher education.
