He was addressing a Student Assembly convened by the SA Student Congress (Sasco) on the UCT campus on Wednesday evening (23 April 2008). The students wanted to hear the MECs views on progress on higher education transformation in the Western Cape, backlogs, and the role of government in tackling transformational issues, such as racism.
The Student Assembly (SA) is a student parliamentary body, which holds the Student Representative Council (SRC) accountable, and recommends direction to the SRC on operational and policy matters. It has a membership of 70 student leaders who represents all campus constituencies of the UCT.
Said MEC Dugmore: We need students across all disciplines who are both internationally competitive and committed to contributing to peace and development of our continent. They also need to be critical young people, confident to challenge prevailing wisdoms at all levels of our society.
We need to locate the debate on higher education transformation within the context of our commitment to a developmental state and its ability to ensure that institutions funded and supported by the state, contribute to our goal of creating a united, democratic, non-racial, non-sexist South Africa.
While a developmental state seeks to intervene to ensure accelerated and shared growth, it is also focused primarily on meeting social needs, building social cohesion by promoting the values of a caring society and also ensuring that our people enjoy safety and security in their homes, communities and places of learning.
I am not suggesting that higher education simply becomes an extension of the democratic state but I believe it is critical that our universities are continually reminded of our national priorities and challenged to contribute to the resolution of these challenges in our teaching, our research and the work done in the communities that we serve.
I believe that the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Western Cape Provincial Government and the Vice-Chancellors of the four Higher Education institutions in the Western Cape is an example of how the state and higher education can work together to realize, in this case, our provincial growth and development strategy, Ikapa Elihlumayo and the Home for All vision for the province.
He appealed to the students at higher education to focus on:
Gert Witbooi
Media Liaison Officer
Office of the MEC for Education
Western Cape
Tel: 021 467 2523
Fax: 021 425 5689
Visit our website: http://wced.wcape.gov.za
The Western Cape - A Home for All
INtshona Koloni - iKhaya loMntu wonke
Die Wes-Kaap - 'n Tuiste vir Almal