Higher education in the recent history has been engulfed by challenges inherited from the society it finds itself in. The political economy of post-school education in the democratic transition of South Africa has seen access massification of diverse student communities in an infrastructure and urban capacity that was historically not conceptualised for such developments. As such, the socioeconomic ills of society have also overlapped to university campuses, where institutionalised racism, financial exclusion, and gender humiliation have been the dominant causes of ecopolitical instability in the sector. Nelson Mandela University has also not been immune from such problems.
The leadership of Mandela University has been alive to these problems and it has been consistently providing governance foresight and excellence that seeks to address them, whilst on the other hand ensuring that the University remains stable and focused on its core programme, which is to deliver an impactful and internationally recognised teaching, learning, and research enterprise. On this score, it is important that every member of the senior leadership of the University never loses sight of the game-changing potential that their hard work in this public institution can do in making qualitative contributions to the transformation trajectory of the country. This should be geared to benefit its most vulnerable members; black, women, young, rurally located people including those who are differently abled.
The fundamental question therefore that each member of the University should ask is; how can we collectively preserve on our public duties to make Mandela University work for every child? No matter the degree of immediate challenges we might face and the kind of emotions experienced, we must never lose focus of the bigger agenda; which is to enable every child reach their full potential. Our student profile and our institutional capacity positions us as the centre of cultivating the critical thinking competencies of working-class students. Mandela University has to exceed the minimum and strive daily to promote equity of access and opportunities so as to give every African child the best chance of success in life.
Luthando Jack
Dean of Students