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Insights taking Unisa's transformation agenda forward

The Department of Leadership and Transformation (DLT), under the Unisa Principal and Vice-Chancellor's Office, held the 5th annual Transformation Conference from 9 to 11 October 2024 at the Bamboo Auditorium, Kgorong Building. This year’s conference theme was Transformation of the higher education sector 30 years after democracy: Reimagining African languages, epistemologies and ontologies.

Setting the scene, Prof Grace Khunou, Director of DLT’s Scholarship Change, expressed the importance of hosting the conference. Reiterating the purpose of the conference, Dr Malekutu Bopape, acting Executive Director in DLT, said the conference creates an opportunity for engagement to reflect on the progress that has been made in transforming higher education.

Prof%20Grace%20Khunou%20(Scholarship%20Change%20Director),%20Prof%20Puleng%20LenkaBula%20(Principal%20and%20Vice-Chancellor),%20and%20Prof%20Puleng%20Segalo%20(Chief%20Albert%20Luthuli%20Research%20Chair%20incumbent)

Prof Grace Khunou (Scholarship Change Director), Prof Puleng LenkaBula (Principal and Vice-Chancellor) and Prof Puleng Segalo (Chief Albert Luthuli Research Chair incumbent)

Delivering her opening and welcoming remarks, Prof Puleng LenkaBula, the Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Unisa, reflected on the chosen theme for the conference. She said the theme is both apposite and challenging to the mind "because it takes place 30 years after the advent of freedom and democracy in South Africa". She added, "it is almost 25 years since the mergers of universities in the higher education sector". She further described these two moments and events in the country as the "great transformation", citing from Karl Polanyi.

"In South Africa's fight for a new civilisation, the establishment of freedom and democracy was no small feat," said LenkaBula. "Despite being contentious and far from complete, the changes that have occurred in South Africa over the last 30 years have altered many facets of our nation and everyday life, both qualitatively and quantitatively." She continued: "Such a reality makes those who are committed to transformation, understood as the betterment of society, to carry the burdens and joys of success and failure." She further encouraged agents of change to never give up since success and the promise of a better society are worthier pursuits than setbacks which are often temporary.

LenkaBula argued that struggles for transformation in the higher education sector have been on all fronts imaginable. She identified some advances, reversals, setbacks and bursts of forward motion that have been observed on all of these fronts during both difficult and exciting periods. "Universities around the world have recently had to address important existential issues like competition, relevance and sustainability. Continuous and quick changes in fields and disciplines, including technology, medicine, climate change, funding sources and geopolitics, and the shifting character of the political economy, are the driving forces behind all of these existential concerns," she added.

Moreover, LenkaBula said Unisa was not spared these changes. She explained: "Over the past 30 years, Unisa has achieved a tremendous amount of transformation, including through the merger process, academic and administrative change, convergence technologies, the improvement of the delivery model, and lately, surviving the disruption imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic."

Her speech also stressed the importance of capturing transformation in all its facets, not only curriculum transformation. "We should focus on every aspect of university and community life." She argued that curriculum transformation was primarily the responsibility of the academic in the lecture hall as well as in the research field. She strongly believes that academic content transformation is for the academy.

From%20left:%20Prof%20Tendayi%20Sithole%20(Department%20of%20Political%20Sciences),%20Chanel%20van%20der%20Merwe%20(Lecturer:%20Nelson%20Mandela%20University),%20and%20Dr%20Nompumelelo%20Radebe%20(Senior%20Lecturer:%20Department%20of%20Anthropology%20and%20Archaeology)

From left: Prof Tendayi Sithole (Department of Political Sciences), Chanel van der Merwe (Lecturer: Nelson Mandela University) and Dr Nompumelelo Radebe (Senior Lecturer: Department of Anthropology and Archaeology)

The conference had four sessions over three days. Under the session named Opening panel – African languages and the South African transformation agenda, Prof Tendayi Sithole from Unisa’s Department of Political Sciences spoke first in the second session, highlighting the issues pertaining to languages in South Africa. His presentation was titled Black thought and the critique of the liberal episteme. A senior lecturer and chair of the University’s Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, Dr Nompumelelo Radebe, presented under the title Our geniuses reside in our languages: Using indigenous languages in teaching and learning to nurture African excellence. Furthermore, Chanel van der Merwe, who is a lecturer in linguistics and applied linguistics at Nelson Mandela University, spoke under the title A multilingual university in Africa, or multilingualism for an African university.

The second and third days of the conference focused on provocative papers and topics presented by academics. During the conference proceedings, two book discussions took place between authors and the delegates. Chief Albert Luthuli Research Chair incumbent, Prof Puleng Segalo, was in conversation with researcher, Lesego Plank, about The faces and phases of Inkosi Albert Luthuli: Reflections. A lecturer in the Department of Communication Science, Melusi Mntungwa, interviewed Dr Lehasa Moloi who is the author of Developing Africa? New Horizons with Afrocentricity.

This year’s conference was a success, and the deliberations reflected on various issues affecting the progress of transformation in higher education.

* By Lesego Chiloane, Marketing and Communication Specialist (acting), Unisa Department of Leadership and Transformation (DLT)

Publish date: 2024-10-22 00:00:00.0

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