The Stakeholder Summit on Higher Education Transformation, (HE Summit), was called by Dr Blade Nzimande, the Minister of Higher Education and Training, South Africa, and held from 22nd to 23rd April 2010 at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Bellville campus, Cape Town.

The Stakeholder Summit on Higher Education Transformation, (HE Summit), was called by Dr Blade Nzimande, the Minister of Higher Education and Training, South Africa, and held from 22nd to 23rd April 2010 at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Bellville campus, Cape Town.The Ministry invited a range of stakeholders from the higher education system both in South Africa and the African continent.

The primary aims and objectives of the summit were to:

1. Revisit the notion of transformation holistically, focusing on issues of access, equity and quality in relation to the core functions of higher education;
2. Examine the role of higher education in national development;
3. Identify key objectives for the higher education sector;
4. Discuss the need, feasibility and possible modalities for more systematic and structured communication between the sector and the Minister of Higher Education and Training, (HE Summit Concept Document, 2010).

The Vice-Chancellor Professor Venansius Baryamureeba was the guest speaker at a pre-summit seminar held at the University of Cape Town, on 21st April 2010. The title of the seminar was “Transformation in post-colonial universities.” And the respondent was Professor Catherine Odora Hoppers, DST/NRF South African Research Chair in Development Education at the University of South Africa.

The seminar provided a regional perspective on transformation matters concerning universities in other parts of the African continent and highlighted that South Africa is not in a vacuum when it comes to the need to deal with transformation related challenges.

Please click here to view the Full Summit Report