Higher education should distance itself from Afriforum
COMMENT: The Higher Education Transformation Network condemns the ongoing racist campaign engineered by the Afrikaans group AfriForum to keep former Afrikaans institutions of higher learning exclusively white.
Contrary to promoting the interests of a unified South African society to advance economic prosperity and fight poverty, AfriForum is playing a very divisive role in higher education by seeking to entrench the exclusion of blacks from higher education and thus entrenching poverty.
AfriForum has already successfully hijacked the University of Pretoria (UP) Alumni Board, where it controls over R4.3 million of student bursaries from the university's Alumni Bursary Fund in an attempt to fuel racial disparities in education and undermine the positive strides made towards higher education transformation in the country.
Under AfriForum's influence, our analysis of UP funding disbursement trends indicates a disproportionate skewing of internal bursary funding to white students while black students get higher bursary allocations through external bursaries in particular the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) as opposed to being funded from the university's own internal coffers.
We call on all higher education institutions (most notably UP) to distance themselves from racist groupings such as AfriForum.
They must commit themselves to the transformation of higher education and training to increase equitable and meaningful access to education, knowledge, skills and support the marginalised and the poor to eliminate socioeconomic disparities through education.
The Higher Education Transformation Network as a representative of progressive alumni affirms its commitment to the principles of the Education White Paper (1997) and will strive to support Minister of Higher Education Blade Ndzimande to ensure the transformation of higher education to:
l Promote equity of access and fair chances of success to all seeking to realise their potential through higher education, while eradicating all forms of unfair discrimination and advancing redress for past inequalities;
l Create well-planned and coordinated teaching, learning and research programmed national development needs, including the high-skilled employment needs presented by a growing economy operating in a global environment;
l Support a culture of human rights by educational programmes and practices conducive to critical discourse and creative thinking, cultural tolerance, and a common commitment to a humane, nonracist and nonsexist social order;
l Contribute to the advancement of all forms of knowledge and scholarship, and i address the diverse problems and demands of the local, national, southern African and African contexts and uphold standards of academic quality.
We call on all progressive graduates to withhold all financial contributions to university alumni associations led by Afriforum members and their sympathisers and remove them from their boards, where they will harm the transformatory cause.
- Legoabe is executive director of Higher Education Transformation Network
PhiriMapetla1
If things doesnt go their way the're quick to rush to the media those raicist afrikaneers.Report Abuse
noto
This issue just by analysis is dabatable.I dont condone what afriforum is doing like their policy of admiting more whites in universities. If a policy of high achivers is adopted then no blacks will be admitted in science faculties eg veterinary.The point is there are still problems that were created by apartheid but sometimes made worse by ANC in our educational system.My observation at university is that students can perform equally irrespective of race or backround on average.The issue here is that u cant if u were born in this country equate a child from rural poo/township south africa with incopetant teachers to perform as thaose in urban areas.The point here i want to make is that there should be liniency in admitting as they cant be top archivers but still meet above required standards.BUT also a black student who went in the same class as a white stutent shuld be squarely and equally rates irrespective of color.
On the issue of veterinarty
There are only 324 Black vets in this country.Lot were produced by Medunsa(now the faculty is closed) and some from african countries who passed the SA admission exam.There are 4600 white vets in this country who are in private and very in the state.Most of the blacks are in government while few r in private.50 % of white graduates also go to europe,australia and middleast eg saudi.Why as south africa we shuld train vets for this countries and waste our tax while there is 40 % vacancy rate in the government and we still have outbreaks of Foot and mouth ,rabies etc that affect our economy and lives?This situation cant be blamed only on those who are vets but also government that pays vets peanuts and also failed to consider them for OSD while at the same time passing legislation for this group to do comminity service.
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034Smunchy
i hate whites and will never lyk them. nothing more to say about these kaks as i get more disgusted.Report Abuse