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Make-over for Social Sciences - Newsroom - 06-10-2010
Pretoria – A new initiative to review and strengthen the social sciences and humanities in South Africa’s higher education system is in the pipeline.
Launching the project on Wednesday, Higher Education and Training Minister Dr Blade Nzimande said a task team has been appointed to develop a charter aimed at establishing the importance of human and social forms of scholarship.
Nzimande said the task team would provide guidance on a way forward to strengthening social sciences and humanities and enhance quality in this key sector of higher education.
The minister said he was concerned with the neglect of the social sciences and humanities in universities and other post-school institutions. “In the last two decades, the social sciences and humanities have taken a back seat.
“Now is the time for the teaching of and research in social sciences and the humanities to take their place again at the leading edge of our struggle for transformation and development of South African society.
“They must play a leading role in helping our people understand and tackle the scourges of poverty, unemployment, racism, discrimination of all kinds and HIV/AIDS,†Nzimande said.
The team will be led by Professor Ari Sitas from the University of Cape Town, and assisted by Dr Sarah Mosoetsa from the University of the Witwatersrand.
A South African reference group has also been established to advise and assist the task team.
An international reference group is in the process of being established and will include leading academics from Brazil, China, France, India, Jordan, the Netherlands, Norway, Senegal, and the USA.
The team will provide the Department of Higher Education and Training with a charter of key interventions for the social sciences and humanities by June 2011.
As part of fact-finding, workshops and interviews will held with local stakeholders (Assaf, Deans, Vice-Chancellors, Research Directors), and scholarly encounter of leading academics in the global south will be invited to share their expertise. – BuaNews