WSU FACULTY OF EDUCATION: EXCELLENCE, GROWTH AND COMMUNITY IMPACT

At a time when communities increasingly look to universities for practical solutions, the Faculty of Education stands out as a cornerstone of social development, academic excellence and future-focused leadership.

With consistently high pass rates, strong undergraduate throughput, and steadily growing research output, the faculty has become a gateway to opportunity and a driver of educational transformation across the region.

The faculty’s growth is underpinned by strong academic and research credentials on the back of the leadership of NRF C-rated researcher and Executive Dean Prof Bongani Bantwini.

“Education remains one of the strongest gateways into higher learning for our communities. The faculty continues to attract unprecedented demand, consistently meeting enrolment targets within hours,” said Bantwini.

Home to more than 8,000 students, the faculty is guided by a clear and compelling vision: to be an impactful, transformative and technology-driven academic space.

Its mission reflects a deep commitment to developing future-ready teachers through innovative pedagogies and emerging technologies, while strengthening community engagement, research, and collaboration at local, national and international levels.

Bantwini said that while growth brings pressure on staffing and resources, the faculty has taken decisive steps to strengthen governance, quality assurance and academic planning, ensuring that access, quality and impact are sustained.

This strategic focus is reflected in the faculty’s departmental assessment outcomes, which demonstrate exceptional academic performance and operational efficiency, reinforcing its position as a high-performing academic pillar. In 2025, the faculty maintained an average pass rate above 90 percent.

Two departments — Business Management Education (BME) and Mathematics, Science and Technology Education (MSTE) — recorded a full 100 percent success rate in their work-integrated learning (WIL) placements, despite managing large student volumes, with BME alone assessing 1,294 students.

Across all departments, success rates exceeded 99 percent, while large cohorts in Initial Primary Teacher Education (IPTE), Humanities and Creative Arts Education (HCAE) and MSTE sustained near-perfect results, reflecting strong teaching systems, curriculum alignment and rigorous assessment management.

“These results reflect the systems we have deliberately put in place; from academic planning and assessment frameworks to workload models and quality assurance processes; to ensure that excellence is sustained, even at scale,” Bantwini said.

The faculty’s academic excellence is further reinforced by sustained growth in accredited research outputs, which increased from 2.33 units in 2018 to 76.69 units in 2024.

This expansion, driven by sharp increases in journal publications, conference outputs, book chapters and scholarly books, alongside the presence of nationally rated researchers, positions the faculty as a centre of knowledge production, innovation and thought leadership in teacher education.

“What matters for us is turning the vision into daily practice. Over the past year, the faculty has focused on strengthening governance, aligning academic programmes, improving quality assurance, and stabilising core systems so that growth is matched by quality and long-term sustainability,” Bantwini said.

Through its extensive teaching practice programme, the Faculty of Education serves schools across all major districts of the Eastern Cape, from OR Tambo and Chris Hani to Alfred Nzo, Amathole, Joe Gqabi, Buffalo City, Sarah Baartman and Nelson Mandela Bay, with placements also extending into KwaZulu-Natal and other provinces.

By Ongezwa Sigodi