IOL.png Student pass rates, violence a concern Giordano Stolley, African News Agency, IOL, Durban, 15 October 2015 The high failure rates among university students and violent protests that resulted in the wanton destruction of university property were a cause for concern, higher education minister Blade Nzimande said on Thursday. Nzimande speaking at the opening of the Second National Higher Education Transformation Summit in Durban said that much had been achieved at the country's universities since 1994, but that there was much that had to be done. He, however, expressed frustration and concern over student protests as well as the student pass rates. He said it was every student's right to protest, but that right did not allow them to destroy university property. "Whilst you (students) march and demonstrate, (please) read. Often you burn a building because you can't argue anymore." He urged students to improve their ability to analyse situations and enhance their analytical capabilities. "I am getting a sense that the quality of analysis is not up to that of the post-1976 students. Please let's stop this destruction of property. Destruction of university property is unAfrican. For how long are we going to have this soapie?" he said. Nzimande pointed out that at the beginning of each year the country was beset with student protests and this was followed later in the year with protests before Student Representative Council elections at the individual institutions. The minister said that often students opted to protest before even telling university management what their grievances were. He urged them to engage management before protesting. "Yes we are frustrated, particularly the destruction. It seems to be getting worse. We are seriously concerned about it," said Nzimande later at a press conference, when asked about the university violence. Nzimande revealed that some 55 percent of students who entered university never graduated, while 40 percent of students who received funding from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme failed to pass their first year at university. Nzimande also expressed concern that Afrikaans universities were excluding black students through language. He was of the opinion that the universities should be bilingual and offer English at the same level that they offered Afrikaans. Nzimande said that 59 percent of the student body at the country's universities was black in 1995. This had since increased to 72 percent. He said it was also an achievement that there were more women attending university than men. Nzimande said that transformation should see South African universities achieving a demographic profile among students and staff that matched the country's population, but at the same time ensuring that the quality of education was maintained. He said that South African universities should not only be users of knowledge from northern hemisphere countries, but should also be creators of knowledge. From: <http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/student-pass-rates-violence-a-concer n-1.1930753#.ViCTlX4rK00> http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/student-pass-rates-violence-a-concern -1.1930753#.ViCTlX4rK00 -- -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] . --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "YCLSA Discussion Forum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
