Abstract:

In this chapter, the author traces and describes the major changes that have taken place in South African higher education over the past decade. The author analyses the reasons why these changes have taken place and briefly examines the future consequences of such changes for the sector and its constituencies. Ten major changes in the higher education system are identified, namely the changing size and shape of the higher education;  the changing meaning of autonomy and accountability;  the changing nature of higher education providers ( private higher education );  the changing character of student distribution and characteristics in higher education;  the changing organization of university management and governance ( new managerialism, councils );  the changing roles of student politics and organization;  the changing models of delivery in higher education;  the changing notion of higher education - between free trade and the public good;  the changing value of higher education programmes ( the rise of the economic sciences and the decline of the humanities );  and the changing nature of the academic workplace. What immediate impact and what long-term effects do these events have on South African higher education?  In addition, the author concludes by identifing and explaining the elements in the higher education system that have remained constant.     

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Jansen, Jonathan (2004). Changes and continuities in South Africa's higher education system, 1994-2004. In Linda Chisholm (ed.) Changing class: education and social change in post-apartheid South Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: HSRC Press, 293-314