South Africa: Toxic Stakeholder Relations at Central University of Technology Collapse Higher Education Oversight

Download logoThe Portfolio Committee on Higher Education has suspended planned discussions with the Central University of Technology (CUT) in Bloemfontein due to a breakdown in trust among senior management, unions, the Institutional Forum (IF) and the Student Representative Council (SRC). The decision follows an oversight visit that exposed severe governance failures, administrative disfunction and a campus environment that is not conducive to teaching and learningCUT stakeholders unanimously decried the state of the institution during the Portfolio Committee on Higher Educations oversight visit. The IF, organised labour and the SRC said the CUT has serious administrative and governance issues, which is affecting staff morale and creating an environment that is not conducive to teaching and learning. University stakeholders also told the committee that the CUT registration process left much to be desiredmany students could have been admitted but lost the opportunity due to the failure of IT systems.Some of the allegations levelled against university leaders was that that the university has a serious shortage of academic staff members and the academic programmes is being run by part-time lecturers. In one faculty, for example, there are more part-time lecturers than full-time academic staff. The committee further said it is discouraging to note that CUT does not have an officially recognised SRC despite the fact that elections were held in August last year.The committee Chairperson, Mr Tebogo Letsie, said that although the committee has postponed immediate engagement with CUT, it plans to revisit the universitys challenges in the committees programme next term. We will schedule a dedicated hearing to dissect the root causes of this distrust. CUTs leadership must account for why stakeholder relations have deteriorated to this extent and how they intend to rebuild academic and operational stability, added Mr Letsie.Members of the committee were deeply concerned that the CUT did not have a recognised SRC. The committee cautioned against a growing practice in the sector where senior management in post-school education used the institutions resources to go after workers and students in the courts.Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Republic of South Africa: The Parliament.
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