A social contract between the public higher education sector and the people of South Africa

Abstract

The South African university system is facing a crisis as the new policy period unfolds. This crisis stems from factors which are particular to South Africa and others which are due to the transformatory pressures on the nature of universities globally which are a result of salient changes to the processes of knowledge generation and dissemination. This article argues that the resolution of this crisis requires the establishment of a process that is led by the higher education sector that would lead to the development of a social contract between itself and the people of South Africa. It is argued further that this approach differs in very fundamental ways from the policy process that has been engaged in since 1994.


South African Journal of Higher Education Vol.15(3) 2001: 10-16