The Walter Sisulu University woes are frightening for a ‘developmental university’

There is some real irony – although it is tragic, too – that the Walter Sisulu University (WSU) in the Eastern Cape describes itself as a ‘developmental university’… because a number of its courses had lost their accreditation.

The Council for Higher Education effectively invalidated the bachelor of science honours in zoology, advanced diploma in journalism, master’s degree in medicine, advanced diploma in internal auditing and postgraduate diploma in chemical pathology.

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Grilled in parliament about this, vice-chancellor Rushiella Songca had a menu of excuses, from problems with merging three educational institutions into one, to lack of cooperation between them, loss of staff and “operational problems”.

Her description of the WSU record-keeping system as “compromised and incoherent” could also be a perfect way to describe many government departments and systems, as well as state-owned enterprises.

However, it is beyond frightening that a body charged with providing trained people to help revive our crumbling country – especially in the rural areas (one of the stated purposes of WSU) – should fail the test.

Not only that, it has been providing false hope for its students.

It is to be hoped that this is not a portent of the future of our other tertiary educational institutions.