Sol Plaatje University vice-chancellor Prof. Andrew Crouch spoke with AfricaLive regarding the role of higher education in shaping the nation’s future. The message from Prof Crouch was clear; South Africa’s Universities provide hope for the future.
Prof Crouch stated “I believe we will have more clarity on the country’s direction after the next election. The past 30 years have seen some areas struggle with well-publicized corruption and energy issues, prompting our self-sufficiency efforts in energy, water and other areas. However, this university enclave plays an important role providing hope and education to local and Northern Cape communities.
“Overall, resource availability is not the main issue. My son is an economist and his view is that our balance sheet shows sufficient funds. I think he is right.
“The core problem has been corruption and sub-optimal spending priorities.
“However, compared to other nations facing disruptive mass migration from natural disasters, our challenges position us to actually achieve a turnaround if we act as a nation.
“South Africa has tremendous human capital, with universities striving to uplift the nation during difficult periods. On a final note, I am not just speaking about Sol Plaatje University as a 10-year-old institution still benchmarking itself. If we assess the South African university system against peers of similar age globally, we are faring well.”
Read the full interview with Prof Crouch, including an overview of the research projects the university has launched, here.
