Rethinking Higher Education in Post-Apartheid South Africa: Transformative Trajectories within a Decolonial Paradigm

This book explores the opportunities and epistemological and structural challenges facing higher education in postcolonial South Africa, and argues for a fundamental transformation to meet the needs of the 21st century. This book will be an essential read for researchers and policy makers working on higher education in South Africa. This book explores the opportunities and epistemological and structural challenges facing higher education in postcolonial South Africa and argues for a fundamental transformation to meet the needs of the 21st century. Taking the concept of transformation as a unifying thread, this book discusses the evolving trajectories of higher education in South Africa, with particular emphasis on the decolonial initiatives that have emerged in the post-Apartheid era. During this time, there have been persistent calls for South Africa to move beyond Eurocentric education programmes and curricula in favour of a system that reflects the continent’s culture and identities of all South Africans. The book argues that incremental reforms of existing structures are insufficient and that instead a deeper, more fundamental shift in higher education structures, values, and systems is needed. Overall, the book calls for a comprehensive transformation to expand access for historically disadvantaged communities, enhance quality and competitiveness, address past injustices, and improve the quality and capacity to act together for a more sustainable and just future. Also exploring the digital transformations which have accelerated in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, this book will be an essential read for researchers and policymakers working on higher education in South Africa.