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Professor George Subotzky Executive Director: Information & Strategic Analysis

The P ost -Election Political C limate & Policy Terrain : What are the Implications for Unisa? Presented at the DISA Strategic Discussion Forum 25 June 2009. Professor George Subotzky Executive Director: Information & Strategic Analysis. SDF 2009/3.

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Professor George Subotzky Executive Director: Information & Strategic Analysis

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  1. The Post-Election Political Climate & Policy Terrain: What are the Implications for Unisa?Presented at the DISA Strategic Discussion Forum 25 June2009 Professor George Subotzky Executive Director: Information & Strategic Analysis

  2. SDF 2009/3 • Throughput & Success Conceptual Model • 2009 Student Satisfaction Survey

  3. Distinctive Features of SDF • It focuses on current institution-wide strategic matters • It provides for institution-wide participation • It consists of presentations by internal and external experts, respondents’ reflections on these, followed by open debate • Wherever possible, discussion documents will be prepared and disseminated beforehand • The purpose of this is to encourage rigorous, robust, critical and evidence-based engagement on key issues of current strategic importance to Unisa • The overall aim is to contribute to the IOP objective of building common conceptual understanding of strategic issues, with critical space for the airing and debating of different perspectives

  4. Introduction & Background • Importance of strategic environmental scanning – key element of support for management, decision-making and planning • Recent national elections, new government and restructured and expanded Cabinet: developments which have undoubted strategic significance • DISA Policy briefing document: circulated at May Management Lekgotla • Rather quick and dirty • Analytic point of departure: Polokwane resolutions • Analysis of press statements and news items (to date) • Collective process of arriving at institutional perspective • Purpose of Policy Briefing & SDF: to catalyse critical debate

  5. Overview • Polokwane resolutions • Governance climate • The new cabinet • Likely policy priorities and issues • Conclusion

  6. The Polokwane Resolutions • The overarching vision that informs ANC education policy is People's Education for People's Power. • A policy on affirmative measures for HDIs with specific emphasis on infrastructure, access and staff provisioning. • The establishment of a national education evaluation and development unit for purposes of monitoring, evaluation and support. • The no fee schools be expanded to 60% by 2009. • Progressively introduce free education for the poor until undergraduate level. • The ANC to focus rigorously on the quality of education. • Education must be prioritised as one of the most important programmes for the next five years.

  7. Other resolutions • Opportunities for Unisa: • Schooling • ABET • FET • Keep a proactive eye on developments

  8. Governance Climate • Climate under Asmal and Pandor at times severely strained, antagonistic and even conflictual • Roots: • Ideological tradition of the struggle: emphasis on role of central planning and policy in social change • Link to this, perception of HE sector as self-seeking marketeers, obstructive of national interest • Comparatively strong, centralist regulatory/legislative environment, shaped by 3 regulatory levers • Danger of uncritically conflating state, government, the ruling party, national interest and ‘the people’ – closes down critical space

  9. The New Cabinet • Size & Shape • Two (and more) centres of power: respective and appropriate roles in policy process • Luthuli House and Cabinet • Within Cabinet • Role of National Planning Commission vsTreasury • Coordination among new clusters • Performance Monitoring and Evaluation • New HET Ministry • Generally welcomed • Key challenges: • Coordination of HET, FET & Skills Development • Capacity

  10. Likely Policy Priorities & Issues • Equity and pro-poor issues • Free UG education (recent retraction) • NSFAS: focus on expanded coverage for needy • Relations with the sector • Personal Style & Background • Likely to drive policy strongly from centre • Funding: larger pie, but more purposefully steered towards required policy priorities & outcomes through earmarking • Mergers • Initial indication of review (recent retraction) • Focus on transformation: problem of “absorption”

  11. Likely Policy Priorities & Issues (2) • Skills directorate and FET sector • Dire need to integrate HET, FET, HRD & Skills Development initiatives • Clarity on epistemological foundations of differentiation and articulation • Capacity? • Transformation • Given his background, likely strong emphasis and substance and direction • Soudien Report • Gender and poverty discrimination as well as race • Key challenge: identifying practical measures to address micro-political dimensions

  12. Conclusion • Interesting times: New president, new government, new cabinet, new Ministry • Remains to be seen: • Balance between change and continuity • Extent to which pre-election (especially pro-poor) rhetoric is turned into effective, practical measures amidst the constraints of actual government • To deliver, capacity needed • Tracking and monitoring future developments will be illuminating and, no doubt, of great ongoing strategic significance for Unisa

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