Higher education

18 Nov 2010

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Short description of the higher education system

Public higher education institutions enjoy a large degree of autonomy although they are heavily funded and controlled by the state. The Department of Education promotes government education policies and provides a national framework for their implementation.  

“Technikons” and universities of technology offer programmes in applied disciplines such as business, design, engineering, health sciences, the performing arts and technology. Comprehensive universities are a type of institution that have arisen from the merger of technikons with traditional universities. These institutions offer programmes and degrees in the traditional arts and science disciplines alongside those offered by technikons/universities of technology. Traditional universities offer degree programmes at both the undergraduate and graduate level and have a huge diversity of programmes, especially at the bachelor's level.
 

Types of degrees

  • Bachelor’s degrees are usually awarded after three years of study; degrees in certain professional fields (law, engineering, medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, architecture, fine art and music) take four to six years.
  • Honours degrees – as known as postgraduate bachelor's degrees – generally require one additional year of study beyond the bachelor's degree. Admission to an honour's programme normally requires an above average level of academic achievement in the first bachelor's degree.
  • Master’s degrees are awarded after one to two years of full-time study beyond the bachelor's degree and require a thesis.
  • Doctorate degrees take a minimum of two years of study beyond the master's level and require a dissertation.

Quality assurance and accreditation

Three state-run agencies hold primary responsibility for quality assurance in education:

  • The Council on Higher Education (CHE) was appointed in June 1998 and provides informed, strategic advice on higher education issues to the minister for education. The CHE is also responsible for maintaining quality assurance within higher education and training, including programme accreditation, institutional audits, programme evaluation and quality promotion.
  • The Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC) is a permanent sub-committee of the CHE and is responsible for promoting quality assurance in higher education, monitoring the quality assurance mechanisms of higher education institutions and accrediting higher education programmes.
  • The South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) is comprised of members appointed by the ministers for education and labour. The members are identified as national stakeholders in the education and employment sectors. The SAQA accredits all higher education degrees and qualifications based on the guidelines and criteria laid out in the National Qualifications Framework (NQF).

Recent reforms

When the new government took office after the 1994 elections, it set out to institute reforms designed to give South Africa a unified and coherent education system and redress the inequities of the former regime. In 1997, the country adopted the Higher Education Act, which instituted a series of fundamental educational reforms. In 2004 and 2005, the South African higher education sector was transformed by a series of mergers and incorporations. As a result, there are now three types of public higher education institutions: traditional universities, universities of technology and comprehensive universities.

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