The Community Engagement (CE) research team recently held its second dialogue session to engage with the students, academics and the University management around the question relating to the quality of Higher Education in South Africa, employability of graduates and the stakeholder responsibilities.
The dialogue session provided a platform for the participants to reflect on their roles in preparing work-prepared graduates and socially responsive citizens and to produce ideas which equal the complex local, national and global environments. The Acting Director of the Quality Promotions and Assurance Department Ronald Norman, spoke in detail about the robust systems and mechanisms at DUT to ensure the institution produces quality graduates. He also said that a key element of the quality assurance system is the regular audits and engagement of key stakeholders.
Another emergent theme was that despite South Africa making noteworthy progress in transforming the higher education sector since the fall of the Apartheid system, some challenges persisted. Thabile Buthelezi, a PhD fellow at DUT pointed out that the current system still needs to be improved to speak to the lived experiences of most African students. In her presentation, Buthelezi, who is the first South African to be awarded the prestigious Choreomundus Master’s degree, shared her experiences gained from studying in Norway, France, Hungary and the United Kingdom. She emphasized that there is need for DUT’s institutional offerings to be flexible to further promote engagement, innovation and creativity.
According to Crispin Hemson, Director of ICON, a paradigm shift is required in the way academics perceive the undergraduate student cohort at DUT. He added that academics needed to be more empathetic towards student realities and their embedded knowledge. Doctor Sydney Chetty presented a discourse on various issues relating to curriculum development and proposed that a synergistic approach be adopted to curriculum development that reflected the expertise of the academics, requirements of the employer and needs of the country.
In conclusion, the general consensus was that while DUT has some excellent programme offerings there should be a continuous effort to close the gap between ‘paper and practice’ quality management to further promote student employability and DUT branding.
Pictured: DUT participants at the Dialogue Session.
Dr Tinashe Mutero
