2 - Higher Education in South Africa: Market Mill or Public Good?
Journal of Higher Education in Africa,
Vol. 5 No. 1 (2007): Journal of Higher Education in Africa
Abstract
This paper argues that current trends in higher education entail a disincentive for universities to enrol students from poor backgrounds and the continuing reproduc- tion of a highly elitist system. The perception of success in the marketplace, shrink- ing allocations to education, and a discourse of efficiency and competitiveness have sidelined previous commitments to access, equity and genuine transformation. These developments follow a global market utopia which sees higher education as a com- modity, emphasising a new managerialism spurred on by ‘by market-driven notions of competition, privatisation and consumption that adopt corporate models of man- agement in order to reduce costs and maximise profits’ (Baatjes 2005:29). I draw our attention to the urgency of tasks necessary to prevent the further corporatisation of higher education institutions. Unfulfilled promises by the state and the enormity of tasks ahead can result in a temptation to despair on the part of those who perceive of a different higher education system. The inroads of neo-liberalism, of markets and individualism over social justice, community and solidarity, create new moral imperatives. It is ‘part of a more general re-working of education as a sphere of ethical practice – a commodification of education and values which allows us to systematically neglect the outcomes of policy and practices – a demoralisation of society’ (Ball 2003:25). In this situation, education degenerates into a lucrative market opportunity for capital. However, drawing on my keynote address to the 12th World Congress on Comparative Education in Havana, Cuba, I argue for the cultivation of hope in conjunction with the conviction that there is space for social action. I conclude by arguing that this is essential, since education for the commonweal is too important to be left in the hands of business, and the whims and vicissitudes of the market place.
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- Baatjes, I., 2005, ‘Neoliberal Fatalism and the Corporatisation of Higher Educa- tion in South Africa, Education as Market Fantasy or Education as a Public Good?’ in S. Vally, ed., Quarterly Review of Education and Training. Vol. 12, No. 1, pp. 25–33.
- Ball, S.J., 2003, Professorial Lecture. The More Things Change: Education Re- search, Social Class and Interlocking Inequalities, Institute of Education, Uni- versity of London.
- Barlow, M. and Robertson, H.J., 1996, ‘The Homogenisation of Education’, in J. Mander and E. Goldsmith, eds., The Case Against the Global Economy, San Francisco: Sierra Club Books. pp. 60 70.
- Burbules, N. and Torres, C.A., 2000, Globalisation and Education: Critical Per- spectives, London: Routledge.
- Chisholm L., Motala, S. and Vally, S., eds., 2003, South African Education Policy Review, Sandown: Heinemann.
- Crossley, M. and Jarvis, P., 2001, ‘Context Matters’, Comparative Education, Vol. 37, No. 4, pp. 405–408.
- Davies, B., 2005, ‘The (Im)possibility of Intellectual Work in Neoliberal Regimes’, Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, Vol. 26, No. 1, pp. 1– 14.
- GATS Watch, 2002, (www.GATSwatch.org). November 2006.
- Grossman, Jonathan, 2006, ‘World Bank Thinking, World Class Institutions, Deni- grated Workers’, in R. Pithouse, ed., Asinamali: University Struggles in Post- Apartheid South Africa, Asmara: Africa World Press. pp. 93–105.
- Hill, D., 2004, ‘Educational Perversion and Global Neo-Liberalism: A Marxist Cri- tique’, Cultural Logic. (http://eserver.org/clogic/2004/hill.html). November 2006. Jansen, Jonathan, 2006, ‘ Accounting for Autonomy’, in R. Pithouse, ed., Asinamali: University Struggles in Post-Apartheid South Africa, Asmara: Africa World Press. pp. 11–21.
- Kincheloe, J.L. and McLaren, P.L., 1998, ‘Rethinking Critical Theory and Qualita- tive Research’, in N.K. Denzin and Y.S. Lincoln, eds., The Landscape of Quali- tative Research: Theories and Issues, Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publi- cation. pp. 260–299.
- Koen, C., Cele, M., and Libhaber, A., 2006, ‘Student Activism and Student Exclu- sions in South Africa’, International Journal of Educational Development, No. 26, pp. 404–414.
- Mandel E., 1972, ‘The Changing Role of the Bourgeois University’, in T. Pateman, ed., Counter Course, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, pp. 15–24.
- Nash, Andrew, 2006, ‘Restructuring South African Universities’, in R. Pithouse, ed., Asinamali: University Struggles in Post-Apartheid South Africa, Asmara: Africa World Press. pp. 1–10.
- Pendlebury, James, and van der Walt, Lucien, 2006, ‘Neoliberalism, Bureaucracy and Resistance at Wits University’, in R. Pithouse, ed., Asinamali: University Struggles in Post-Apartheid South Africa, Asmara: Africa World Press. Pp. 79- 92.
- Pithouse, R., ed., 2006, Asinamali: University Struggles in Post-Apartheid South Africa, Asmara: Africa World Press.
- Rikowski, G., 2002, ‘Globalisation and Education’, Unpublished paper prepared for the House of Lords. Select Committee on Economic Affairs, Inquiry into the Global Economy, London.
- Shivji, I., 2005, ‘“Whither University”, Education as Market Fantasy or Education as a Public Good?’ in S. Vally, ed., Quarterly Review of Education and Train- ing, Vol. 12, No. 1, pp. 34–36.
- Shumar, W., 1997, College for Sale: A Critique of the Commodification of Higher Education, London: Falmer Press.
- Sinclair, S and Grieshaber-Otto, 2002, Facing the Facts: A Guide to the GATS Debate, Ottawa: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
- Southall, Roger, and Cobbing, Julian, 2006, ‘From Racial Liberalism to Corporate Authoritarianism’, in R. Pithouse, ed., Asinamali: University Struggles in Post- Apartheid South Africa, Asmara: Africa World Press. pp. 39–49.
- Stromquist, N.P., 2002, ‘New Directions in Comparative and International Educa- tion: Globalisation, the I, and the Other’, Current Issues in Comparative Edu- cation, Vol. 4, No. 2, pp.87-94. (www.tc.columbia.edu/CICE/Archives/4.2/42stromquist.pdf).
References
Baatjes, I., 2005, ‘Neoliberal Fatalism and the Corporatisation of Higher Educa- tion in South Africa, Education as Market Fantasy or Education as a Public Good?’ in S. Vally, ed., Quarterly Review of Education and Training. Vol. 12, No. 1, pp. 25–33.
Ball, S.J., 2003, Professorial Lecture. The More Things Change: Education Re- search, Social Class and Interlocking Inequalities, Institute of Education, Uni- versity of London.
Barlow, M. and Robertson, H.J., 1996, ‘The Homogenisation of Education’, in J. Mander and E. Goldsmith, eds., The Case Against the Global Economy, San Francisco: Sierra Club Books. pp. 60 70.
Burbules, N. and Torres, C.A., 2000, Globalisation and Education: Critical Per- spectives, London: Routledge.
Chisholm L., Motala, S. and Vally, S., eds., 2003, South African Education Policy Review, Sandown: Heinemann.
Crossley, M. and Jarvis, P., 2001, ‘Context Matters’, Comparative Education, Vol. 37, No. 4, pp. 405–408.
Davies, B., 2005, ‘The (Im)possibility of Intellectual Work in Neoliberal Regimes’, Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, Vol. 26, No. 1, pp. 1– 14.
GATS Watch, 2002, (www.GATSwatch.org). November 2006.
Grossman, Jonathan, 2006, ‘World Bank Thinking, World Class Institutions, Deni- grated Workers’, in R. Pithouse, ed., Asinamali: University Struggles in Post- Apartheid South Africa, Asmara: Africa World Press. pp. 93–105.
Hill, D., 2004, ‘Educational Perversion and Global Neo-Liberalism: A Marxist Cri- tique’, Cultural Logic. (http://eserver.org/clogic/2004/hill.html). November 2006. Jansen, Jonathan, 2006, ‘ Accounting for Autonomy’, in R. Pithouse, ed., Asinamali: University Struggles in Post-Apartheid South Africa, Asmara: Africa World Press. pp. 11–21.
Kincheloe, J.L. and McLaren, P.L., 1998, ‘Rethinking Critical Theory and Qualita- tive Research’, in N.K. Denzin and Y.S. Lincoln, eds., The Landscape of Quali- tative Research: Theories and Issues, Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publi- cation. pp. 260–299.
Koen, C., Cele, M., and Libhaber, A., 2006, ‘Student Activism and Student Exclu- sions in South Africa’, International Journal of Educational Development, No. 26, pp. 404–414.
Mandel E., 1972, ‘The Changing Role of the Bourgeois University’, in T. Pateman, ed., Counter Course, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, pp. 15–24.
Nash, Andrew, 2006, ‘Restructuring South African Universities’, in R. Pithouse, ed., Asinamali: University Struggles in Post-Apartheid South Africa, Asmara: Africa World Press. pp. 1–10.
Pendlebury, James, and van der Walt, Lucien, 2006, ‘Neoliberalism, Bureaucracy and Resistance at Wits University’, in R. Pithouse, ed., Asinamali: University Struggles in Post-Apartheid South Africa, Asmara: Africa World Press. Pp. 79- 92.
Pithouse, R., ed., 2006, Asinamali: University Struggles in Post-Apartheid South Africa, Asmara: Africa World Press.
Rikowski, G., 2002, ‘Globalisation and Education’, Unpublished paper prepared for the House of Lords. Select Committee on Economic Affairs, Inquiry into the Global Economy, London.
Shivji, I., 2005, ‘“Whither University”, Education as Market Fantasy or Education as a Public Good?’ in S. Vally, ed., Quarterly Review of Education and Train- ing, Vol. 12, No. 1, pp. 34–36.
Shumar, W., 1997, College for Sale: A Critique of the Commodification of Higher Education, London: Falmer Press.
Sinclair, S and Grieshaber-Otto, 2002, Facing the Facts: A Guide to the GATS Debate, Ottawa: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
Southall, Roger, and Cobbing, Julian, 2006, ‘From Racial Liberalism to Corporate Authoritarianism’, in R. Pithouse, ed., Asinamali: University Struggles in Post- Apartheid South Africa, Asmara: Africa World Press. pp. 39–49.
Stromquist, N.P., 2002, ‘New Directions in Comparative and International Educa- tion: Globalisation, the I, and the Other’, Current Issues in Comparative Edu- cation, Vol. 4, No. 2, pp.87-94. (www.tc.columbia.edu/CICE/Archives/4.2/42stromquist.pdf).