The Department of Higher Education and Training will host the Higher Education Summit this week where the higher education system will, among a number of issues, review progress made regarding transformation imperatives within the sector.

The summit, to take place from 15 October 2015 to 17 October 2015, will be held at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli ICC.

“The aim of this Summit is to bring together key stakeholders in for a critical dialogue on the higher education system,” said Dr Blade Nzimande, Higher Education Minister in a statement. “Importantly, the Summit will provide the space for re-imagining higher education transformation, tackling the difficult issues that are currently explosive on our campuses and build a vision for what a South African university should look like today and in the future,” he said.

The Summit will be attended by a wide range of higher education stakeholders. University representation will include representatives from governance and management structures as well as a significant student and staff component. Relevant government departments, statutory and non-statutory organisations, civil society organisations, research organisations and unions are also expected to participate in the Summit.

“The Summit will provide the opportunity for the sector to review progress that has been made regarding transformation imperatives that were identified at the previous Summit, in the National development Plan and in the White Paper on Post-School Education and Training. It will also create space and opportunities for a range of voices to be heard and perspectives to be debated. It will move beyond a perspective of transformation that focuses largely on unequal demographic representation in the sector, important as this is, to a deeper interrogation of the range of issues that underlie inequality, and to a focus on the issues that impact on quality in the sector”, said Dr Nzimande.