WSU LECTURER CALLS FOR INCLUSIVE AND DECOLONISED HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE DIGITAL ERA

Thirty years into democracy, the deep inequality that Apartheid architect Hendrik Verwoerd created in the South African education system still lingers, SA Humanities Deans Association Conference heard on Wednesday. 

Delivering his presentation at the SAHUDA colloquim, Walter Sisulu University Mathematics Education Senior Lecturer, Benjamin Tatira, highlighted how the past’s structural disparities shaped educational outcomes today.

Speaking under the topic “Access and Relevance of Higher Education in the Digital Era for the Global South” aligned with the conference theme “Humanities for Social Justice and Public Good”, Tatira reminded the audience that colonial and apartheid education systems were never designed to liberate the African mind. Instead, they entrenched inequality and limited intellectual and economic freedom.

Driving his point home, Tatira echoed one of Verweord’s startling words: “What is the use of teaching a Bantu child mathematics when it cannot use it in practice?”

He reflected on how the 1953 Bantu Education Act deliberately segregated education along racial lines, creating unequal systems that left African learners underfunded and underdeveloped.

At the heart of his presentation was the argument that massification, decolonisation, and transformation in higher education are inseparable if universities in the Global South are to reimagine the future of learning.

 “The aim was to elaborate on the intricate relationship among massification, a decolonised curriculum, and technology as a pedagogical tool culminating in evolving teaching practices and student learning,” he said.

Tatira acknowledged that while massification, the expansion of higher education enrolments has democratised access to universities and diversified student populations, it has also introduced new challenges related to quality, employability, and relevance.

“Massification has democratised access to higher education, allowing a diversity of students to enter the system. However, as I showed from published data, access for native people was historically limited, and we continue to see imbalances today,” he said.

He cautioned that higher education credentials alone no longer guarantee decent employment, arguing that oversupply in certain fields leads to market saturation.

“Through massification, if we enrol in large numbers without balancing supply and demand, we saturate the market. A programme that is in high demand today may produce unemployed graduates tomorrow. Massification engenders the production of unemployed and unemployable graduates,” Tatira warned.

Turning to decolonisation, Tatira challenged the dominance of Eurocentric knowledge systems in higher education. He called for curricula that integrate diverse local knowledge systems and reflect the cultural, social, and historical realities of African students.

“How many times do we have speakers from our local communities sharing their rich knowledge? In the Eastern Cape, for instance, we are largely isiXhosa-speaking people, yet most of our guest speakers come from America,” he said, drawing attention to the marginalisation of indigenous voices in academia.

He further noted that technology plays a crucial role in transforming higher education by enabling personalised learning, expanding remote access, and fostering collaboration across geographical boundaries. When used strategically, digital tools can complement decolonisation efforts by making learning more inclusive and accessible to all students.

In conclusion, Tatira called for a balanced and integrated approach that combines massification, decolonisation, technology, and student-centred learning. Such a model, he argued, would create a higher education system that is not only inclusive and adaptive but also impactful and responsive to the diverse needs of students in the Global South.

The SAHUDA conference, underway at WSU’s Zamukulungisa site in Mthatha, enters day two today and ends tomorrow, Friday 24 October.

By Amahle Haseni