South Africa: Minister Blade Nzimande Calls for Increased Public-Private Partner

Africa/Sudafrica/22 de Julio de 2016/Fuente: All Africa

RESUMEN: El Ministro de Educación Superior y Capacitación, Dr. Blade Nzimande, ha pedido soluciones para hacer frente a los enormes desafíos que Sudáfrica se enfrenta en la provisión de vivienda para estudiantes universitarios. Hablando en UNISA en Pretoria hoy, en un primer simposio que fue organizado por el Departamento de Educación Superior y Capacitación,  el Ministro Nzimande también anunció la resolución del Gobierno, en colaboración conjunta con el sector privado, para poner en práctica una serie de proyectos de desarrollo este año que abrirá 15 000 nuevas camas en 11 universidades y centros de FTP en todo el país. Entre los cientos de asistentes al simposio son los ministros del gabinete, vicerrectores universitarios, promotores inmobiliarios, los estudiantes y los representantes de los trabajadores organizados, y los líderes de las instituciones bancarias y financieras de desarrollo. «Hemos estado hablando durante mucho tiempo por la escasez de viviendas para estudiantes. Las soluciones que diseñamos hoy en día tienen que ser grande y en negrita, un partido para el reto al que nos enfrentamos, para proporcionar alojamiento para estudiantes que es asequible», dijo.

The Minister of Higher Education and Training Dr Blade Nzimande calls for increased public-private partnership to deliver critically needed student housing

The Minister of Higher Education and Training, Dr Blade Nzimande, has called for «big and bold» solutions to tackle the enormous challenges that South Africa is facing in providing housing for university, as well as technical vocational education and training (TVET) college students.

Speaking at UNISA in Pretoria today, at the country’s first ever student housing symposium that was organised by the Department of Higher Education and Training, Minister Nzimande also announced the government’s resolve, working with the private sector, to implement a number of development projects this year that will unlock 15 000 new beds at 11 universities and TVET colleges around the country.

Among the hundreds of attendees at the symposium are cabinet ministers, university vice chancellors, property developers, student and organised labour representatives, and leaders of banking and development finance institutions.

«We have been talking for a long time about the shortage of student housing. The solutions we devise today have to be big and bold, a match for the challenge we face, to provide student housing that is affordable,» he said.

Minister Nzimande said research into student housing at universities that the government had undertaken in 2011 had revealed a «chilling view» of the shortage of student housing at all the country’s institutions of higher learning.

That study had revealed that the entire university sector provided a mere 107 000 beds, with six or more applicants for every available place — resulting in an estimated overall bed shortage of 195 817, and with historically disadvantaged universities the worst affected.

«The Review showed us appalling pictures of students living in derelict buildings, unfit for habitation, let alone for students who were expected to study and emerge as young graduates with the skills needed for employment and economic growth.

«Of the 583 000 students at the time, only 18% could be housed in university residences. It was shocking to discover that only 5% of first year students were housed in university residences.

«These are the most vulnerable young people in our system, away from home for the first time and expected to perform in a post-school environment, very different to the schools where most of them matriculated,» Minister Nzimande observed.

This state of affairs was despite mounting evidence from local and international academic research that showed that students who live in university residences performed better academically and coped better socially than their peers who did not live on campuses — especially in the crucial first year of study.

It was projected that by this year (2016), the bed shortage at all universities stood at 216 000, and that by 2030 an extra 400 000 beds would be needed to meet the enrollment targets set out in the National Development Plan.

The challenge was no less daunting at TVET colleges, where a survey carried out at the country’s 50 public TVET colleges last year by the Department of Higher Education and Training had shown that for the 710 000 college students, there were only 10 120 beds — which meant that these colleges could provide accommodation for only 1,4% of their students, that is 1 in 70 students.

Many of those students travelled hundreds of kilometres from their homes in rural areas to the nearest college, amid estimates that the country needed at least 100 000 student beds at TVET colleges to meet the immediate demand.

«We now have a wealth of knowledge and experience to draw on. One clear lesson is that the challenge is big enough for all interested parties to participate in resolving it.

«This year, working together with many of the powerful partners gathered here today, we can implement projects with 15 000 new beds at the first 11 universities and TVET colleges, from the University of Venda in the far North, to the University of the Western Cape on the southernmost tip of Africa.

«In the next six months, we will start projects with more beds than were built by the sector in the past three years. Moreover, we are committed to maintaining the momentum,» Minister Nzimande said.

«In closing, I have been saying recently that students must tell us what must rise, not only what must fall. #FeesMustFall gave us the impetus to address the challenge of rising tuition fees in a context of falling subsidies, and we now have a national dialogue on finding a lasting solution.

«We must not wait for student housing to be a crisis. Students, universities, TVET colleges, banks, investors, we need to come up with smarter solutions to solve this problem than the ones we have found working apart.

«In addition to what government is already doing, there must be a national consensus that one of the things that must definitely rise is a sustained Student Housing Infrastructure Programme, supported by both the public and private sectors,» Minister Nzimande added.

Fuente: http://allafrica.com/stories/201607211004.html