What is to be done? The current uncertainties of the country’s GNU deliberations and negotiations offer us an opportunity to reflect on the future of the higher education system. That demands that we at least think about three central organising questions moving forward. Firstly, what are the purposes/roles/functions of higher education in South Africa? Rather than always playing catch-up and lamenting the pressures and demands of the “knowledge economy”, rankings, being rated, etc., we should be clear in fashioning an alternative vision for the country, one that practically and philosophically responds to the African and Global South challenges and possibilities. Secondly, how could we best respond to the Fallist movements’ demands for curriculum transformation and decolonisation in our courses/modules? Instead of adopting narrow and integrationist responses to curriculum design, we need to redesign our curriculum with our own worldviews, underpinned by our knowledge, our own experiences and our own complex life worlds. Thus, we must endeavour to read the world and the word from Africa. And finally, it is abundantly clear that precarity, casualisation and employment insecurity have become the new normal in South African public universities. How can we ensure that we absorb precarious staff members into the different public universities in a sustainable, ethical and developmental manner? This would not only help bring stability to the staff members themselves but would also benefit the public higher education system as a whole. Answering these and other pressing questions will ensure that the country’s GNU offers us a new social contract in South African public universities.
The third urgent task that confronts South African universities, is the question of precarity, employment insecurity and casualisation in the sector. Using the latest publicly available data from the Council on Higher Education (CHE)’s VitalStats, we now know that by 2021, out of 151 431 of all staff members in South African public universities, 86 549 (57%) were part time and on short-term contracts. Reading the same numbers by race, 62 413 black staff members were on short-term contracts, compared with only 24 140 white staff members. It also appears that the employment insecurity and casualisation in South African public universities affect women more than men, with 47 244 of women staff members on short-term contracts compared with 39 293 men. The worst of the worst in the sector remains the country’s postdoctoral research fellows (postdocs), who are neither staff nor students – they are something in between. These are short-term scholars who are often employed on a 12-month contract, with no medical aid benefits, no pension, no leave, etc. Postdocs receive an untaxed monthly stipend, with their contract renewal depending on the production of two research units per year. Currently in South Africa, there is no national legislation or framework that governs the wellbeing, rights and responsibilities of postdocs. As a result, as Heidi Prozesky and Francois van Schalkwyk remind us in their 2024 research, we only have a rough idea that there are at least 2 867 postdocs in South African public universities. But then again, questions abound: how many of these postdocs are South African? What is the total number of women postdocs and their fields of specialisation? How many have been absorbed into permanent academic careers in public universities, and how many have left the sector? These and other pressing questions remain unknown to us.
*The views expressed in this article are those of the author/s and do not necessarily reflect that of the University of Johannesburg.
ALUMNI IMPUMELELO 41
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online