In a bid to improve health care in South Africa, President Jacob Zuma has made several promises in the last three years. Some have materialised faster than others.
Academic rigor, journalistic flair
University of KwaZulu-Natal
The University of KwaZulu-Natal was formed on 1 January 2004 as a result of the merger between the University of Durban-Westville and the University of Natal. The new university brings together the rich histories of both the former universities.
The University of Durban-Westville was established in the 1960s as the University College for Indians on Salisbury Island in Durban Bay. Student numbers throughout the 1960s were low as a result of the Congress Alliances’ policy of shunning apartheid structures. This policy gave way in the 1980s to a strategy of “education under protest” which sought to transform apartheid institutions into sites of struggle. Student numbers grew rapidly and in 1971, the college was granted university status. The following year, the newly-named University of Durban-Westville moved into its modern campus in Westville and was a site of major anti-apartheid struggle. It became an autonomous institution in 1984, opening up to students of all races.
Founded in 1910 as the Natal University College in Pietermaritzburg, the University of Natal was granted independent university status in 1949 owing to its rapid growth in numbers, its wide range of courses and its achievements in and opportunities for research. By that time, the NUC was already a multi-campus institution, having been extended to Durban after World War 1. The distinctive Howard College building was opened in 1931, following a donation by Mr T B Davis, whose son Howard Davis was killed during the Battle of Somme in World War I. In 1946, the government approved a Faculty of Agriculture in Pietermaritzburg and, in 1947, a Medical School for African, Indian and Coloured students in Durban.
The two KwaZulu-Natal universities were among the first batch of South African institutions to merge in 2004 in accordance with the government’s higher educational restructuring plans that will eventually see the number of higher educational institutions in South Africa reduced from 36 to 21. Confirmed by a Cabinet decision in December 2002, the mergers are the culmination of a wide-ranging consultative process on the restructuring of the Higher Education Sector that began in the early 1990s.
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The general loss of faith in the economy is the most important issue President Zuma must address. More radical social and economic transformation, with emphasis on land reform will be most critical.
When talking about the role that higher education can play in developing Africa, it’s important not to forget the continuing and crucial role of the continent’s flagship universities.
There’s a great deal of debate about what devices schools should be using. But educators should be focusing on how children learn, not what they learn on.
Le « binge watching » ou « boulimie télévisuelle » induit souvent un comportement passif chez les enfants qui nuit à leur capacité d’apprendre.
Thalidomide was responsible for one of the biggest drug disasters in history. It is making a comeback. But is Africa equipped to handle this controversial drug?
Given the conservative stand of the Catholic Church on gays and lesbians, Pope Francis had a wonderful opportunity to extend his message of tolerance to both the religious and social realms.
Teenagers spend more time consuming media than they do sleeping. Most of this consumption is passive - a habit that’s creeping into classrooms, too.
An education revolution is happening online that could help meet the demand made by South African students during recent protests: free education for all.
Teaching often comes second to research in universities. A group of award winning lecturers explains why teaching is the best part of their work.
Antibiotics are used extensively in Africa because of the continent’s high disease burden. This also means that resistance is high. Steps are being taken to raise awareness and encourage prudent use.
It gets us nowhere to distinguish between page and stage poetry, except as terms in an analysis. There is bad and good on both sides. Both forms need to be kept alive and to flourish.
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Despite improvements, there are still millions of people without adequate sanitation in Africa. Sustainable solutions that can be replicated elsewhere are being developed in South Africa.
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South Africa’s left wing trade unions may have found an unlikely ally in their objection to the proposed VAT hike. The OECD says there are other options South Africa could consider to raise revenue.
Doctoral studies are valued as an engine for development in Africa. If doctoral graduates are to meet this challenge, the very structure of the doctoral programme must change.
Children’s insatiable curiosity and search for new knowledge is getting lost somewhere along the way. We’ve mislaid the art of the question.
There may be a chemical secret to getting kids interested in learning – and it’s one that’s created and produced by our own bodies rather than in a lab.
Authors
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Associate professor, University of KwaZulu-Natal
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Senior Lecturer, University of KwaZulu-Natal
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Head: Sustainable and Resilient City Initiatives Unit, EThekwini Municipality; Honorary Professor, University of KwaZulu Natal and Co-Chair of Working Group II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, University of KwaZulu-Natal
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Professor Gender and Childhood Sexuality, University of KwaZulu-Natal
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Senior Professor of Biblical Studies, University of KwaZulu-Natal
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Emeritus Professor of Political Sociology, University of KwaZulu-Natal
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Full Professor, University of KwaZulu-Natal
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Research Associate, Centre for Water Resources Research, School of Agricultural, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal
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Research Manager, The Asenze Project, University of KwaZulu-Natal
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Research Director at The Health Economics and HIV and AIDS Research Division (HEARD), University of KwaZulu-Natal
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Aquatic Ecologist, Centre for Water Resources Research, School of Agricultural, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal
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Post-doctoral research fellow, University of KwaZulu-Natal
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Clinical Psychologist, University of KwaZulu-Natal
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Director: KRISP - KwaZulu-Natal Research and Innovation Sequencing Platform, University of KwaZulu-Natal
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Senior Lecturer, Information Systems and Technology, University of KwaZulu-Natal
