Student development programmes at historically black universities in South Africa

Abstract

Amongst many other effects, apartheid legislation limited Black people’s access to higher education and their participation in the South African economy. Towards the end of apartheid, those institutions designated for white students began to take in more Black students and a new sub-section of the institution, student development, was formed to assist struggling Black students. The programmes put into place to assist these students were premised on the notion that the problems these students experienced in the academy emerged from their poor schooling under the Bantu Education system. The programmes were thus focused on offering remedial support for the student, with little to no critical reflection on how the university itself was implicated in the challenges confronting these students. After apartheid, student development programmes spread across the sector, including in those institutions that were designated for Black students under apartheid. Such programmes are now largely funded by South Africa’s Department of Higher Education and Training in the form of the University Capacity Development Grant. Various stakeholders who conceptualise and implement these student development programmes using the University Capacity Development Grant from historically Black universities nationally were interviewed, alongside the analysis of documents on funding of Student Development Programmes. This study draws on a Realist approach to identify what conditions the conceptualisation and implementation of University Capacity Development Grant-funded student development programmes in historically Black universities. The focus on historically Black universities was because of the significant role these institutions play in the sector, particularly for the students of working-class families. Furthermore, the prior research on which this study builds showed that historically Black universities have particular challenges in spending their University Capacity Development Grant funding and that student retention and throughput issues are felt in particularly acute ways in these institutions. The findings show that the historic conditions of South Africa conditioned how Black students are perceived. The participants in this study, those responsible for implementing student development programmes, positioned these students as having individual deficits which needed to be addressed. Those responsible for planning and implementing the programmes did not take into consideration how the systemic challenges of the past and the social structures of the present shape how the university as a whole functions. The decontextualization of the student from their social identities and the absenting of the university as a major mechanism allowed student development to take the form of add-on interventions that left the status quo of the mainstream curriculum untouched. The study also identified how the nature of the historical relationship between the state and the university under apartheid conditioned participants to take a compliance position that focused on adhering to the Department of Higher Education and Training’s technical requirements for the use of the funds. There was thus little critical theorisation about the student experience or what shape the post-apartheid university might take. The study concludes that for student development to bring about the desired changes, it needs to be understood more broadly as integrated with staff development, curriculum development, and institutional transformation. To achieve meaningful change, there has to be a collective effort that tackles issues at a systemic level.

Phakathi kwezinye iziphumo ezininzi, umthetho wocalucalulo wawuthintele ukufikelela kwabantu abaNtsundu kwimfundo ephakamileyo kunye nokuthatha kwabo inxaxheba kuqoqosho loMzantsi Afrika. Ngasekupheleni kocalucalulo, loo maziko ebekhethelwe abafundi abamhlophe aqalisa ukuthatha abafundi abaNtsundu abaninzi kwaye icandelwana elitsha leZiko loPhuhliso lwabaFundi, lasekwa ukunceda abafundi abaNtsundu ababetsala nzima. Iinkqubo ezamiselwayo zokunceda aba bafundi zazisekelwe kwingcinga yokuba iingxaki aba bafundi abazifumanayo kweli Ziko leMfundo zivele kwimfundo yabo ephantsi, phantsi kwenkqubo yeBantu Education. Iinkqubo ke ngoko zazigxile ekuboneleleni ngenkxaso yolungiso kwabafundi, kungekho mbono ibalulekileyo malunga nokuba idyunivesiti ngokwayo iye yabandakanyeka njani kwimingeni abajongene nayo aba bafundi. Emva kocalucalulo, iinkqubo zoPhuhliso lwabaFundi zasasazeka kulo lonke icandelo lwe mfundo ephakamileyo, kuquka naloo maziko ayekhethelwe abafundi abaNtsundu phantsi kocalucalulo. Iinkqubo ezinjalo ngoku ubukhulu becala zixhaswa ngemali liSebe leMfundo ePhakamileyo noQeqesho loMzantsi Afrika ngendlela yeSibonelelo soPhuhliso lweZakhono zeDyunivesithi. Kuchongwe abantu abohlukeneyo abachaphazelekayo ekucingeni nasekuphumezeni ezi nkqubo zophuhliso lwabafundi kusetyenziswa iSibonelelo soPhuhliso lweZakhono zeYunivesithi ezisuka kwiidyunivesithi zabaNtsundu ngokwembali kuzwelonke, kwaye kwenziwa udliwano-ndlebe, kunye nohlalutyo lwamaxwebhu enkxaso-mali yeeNkqubo zoPhuhliso lwaBafundi. Olu phononongo lutsalela kwithiyori eyiRealist. Lethiyori ichonga ukuba zeziphi iimeko zokuqikelelwa kunye nokuphunyezwa kweSibonelelo soPhuhliso lwezakhono zedyunivesithi ezifumana inkxaso-mali kwiinkqubo zophuhliso lwabafundi kwiidyunivesithi ezazi zabaNtsundu ngaphambili. Olugqaliselo kwiidyunivesithi zabaNtsundu ngokwembali kungenxa yendima ebalulekileyo edlalwe ngala maziko kweli candelo, ingakumbi kubafundi beentsapho zabaNtsundu. Ngaphaya koko, uphando lwangaphambili olwakhe phezu kwalo olu phononongo lubonise ukuba ngaphambili iidyunivesiti zabaNtsundu zinemingeni ethile ekuchitheni imali yazo yeSibonelelo soPhuhliso lweZakhono zeDyunivesithi nokuba ukugcinwa kwabafundi nemiba yokuphumelela kubonwa ngeendlela eziqatha ngakumbi kula maziko. Iziphumo zoluphononongo zibonisa ukuba iimeko zembali zaseMzantsi Afrika zayimisela indlela abajongwa ngayo abafundi abaNtsundu. Abathathi-nxaxheba kolu phando, abo banoxanduva lokuphumeza iinkqubo zophuhliso lwabafundi, babeke aba bafundi njengabaneentsilelo ekufuneke ziqwalaselwe. Abo banoxanduva lokucwangcisa nokuphumeza iinkqubo abazange bathathele ngqalelo indlela imingeni yenkqubo yexesha elidlulileyo kunye nemibutho yezentlalo yangoku ibumba indlela esebenza ngayo idyunivesiti xa iyonke. Ukuguqulwa kwemixholo yomfundi kwiimpawu zabo zentlalo kunye nokungabikho kwedyunivesithi njengeyona ndlela iphambili yavumela uphuhliso lwabafundi ukuba luthathe uhlobo longenelelo olongezelelekileyo oluye lwashiya imeko ekhoyo yekharityhulam yesiqhelo ingachatshazelwa. Oluphononongo lukwachonge indlela ubume bobudlelwane bembali phakathi kukarhulumente kunye nedyunivesithi phantsi kwemeko yocalu-calulo ukuba abathathi-nxaxheba bathathe indawo yokuthobela egxile ekubambeleleni kwiimfuno zobugcisa zeSebe leMfundo ePhakamileyo noQeqesho ukuze kusetyenziswe le mali. Ke ngoko kusetyenziswe ithiyori ebalulekileyo encinci kakhulu malunga namava omfundi okanye ukuba idyunivesiti yasemva kocalu-calulo inokwakheka njani. Uphononongo luqukumbela ngelithi ukuze uphuhliso lwabafundi luzise utshintsho olunqwenelekayo, kufuneka luqondwe ngokubanzi njengoko luhlanganiswe nophuhliso lwabahlohli, uphuhliso lwekharityhulam, kunye nenguqu yedyunivesithi. Ukuphumeza utshintsho olunentsingiselo, kufuneka kubekho iinzame ezihlangeneyo ezijongana nemiba kwinqanaba lenkqubo.