ALTHOUGH most higher education institutions are racially representative than in 1994, formal access to higher education has not necessarily led to an increase in knowledge

These were some of the findings of a Council on Higher Education consultation document published last month.

The council is responsible for the accreditation and quality assurance of all higher education programmes in South Africa.

The document, which has been sent out to various higher education institutions for comment, will inform the framework the department uses for its second cycle of quality assurance, starting in 2011.

The document points to "salient features" of teaching and learning in higher education which include:

l Institutions with low throughput rates and student success rates that are skewed along racial lines;

l Teaching and learning philosophies that suggest students are seen as a-social, a-cultural, autonomous beings where success depends on "motivation and potential";

l A lack of the development of approaches to education;

l A lack of capacity to develop quality academic programmes;

l The utilisation of educational technology is generally quite rare;

l Large classes in context of a lack of resources have meant an increase in staff teaching loads;

l Assessment practises that are uneven and not in line with expected graduate attributes;

l At some institutions there is also a basic lack of infrastructure including laboratories, data projectors, computers, regular access to the Internet and appropriately resourced libraries.

The document sums up by saying "the majority of higher education institutions are examples of excellence in teaching and learning".

"Regrettably, at some institutions, students experience poor quality lecturing, absentee lecturers, and inadequate support."

Dr Mark Hay, the council's executive director of quality assurance, said that while part of the document "could come across as negative", this was just because it focused on the issues that needed attention.