Manamela warns universities face funding, AI and transformation challenges

South African universities must rethink how they prepare students for the future while tackling funding pressures, student debt and inequality, Higher Education Minister Buti Manamela has warned.

Speaking at a webinar on the intellectual directions of higher education in South Africa on Tuesday, Manamela called for a renewed national discussion about the role universities should play in a changing society.

He cautioned that expanding access to higher education would mean little if institutions were left without the resources needed to educate students and sustain their work.

“A university is not simply a factory producing certificates, a recruitment agency for employers or a consultancy to the state,” Manamela said.

He described universities as spaces where knowledge is created, established ideas are questioned and society can imagine new possibilities.

Funding and student access remain key concerns

Manamela acknowledged South Africa’s progress in widening access to higher education, transforming student demographics and building research institutions with international recognition.

However, he said these achievements needed to be supported by a sustainable funding model that balances access for students with the financial stability of universities.

He argued that student funding and institutional sustainability could not be treated as separate issues.

“If we protect access while undermining the institutions that must educate students, we risk weakening the very system we are trying to expand,” he said.

The minister also called on universities to demonstrate their value to the public while protecting academic freedom and the independence required for research and critical debate.

Universities must prepare for artificial intelligence

The rapid development of artificial intelligence is creating new questions about what students need to learn and how universities should prepare graduates for the workplace.

Manamela said higher education institutions must equip students with critical thinking skills, the ability to assess evidence and the ethical judgement needed to navigate an AI-driven world.

He also argued that African countries should strengthen their own capacity to develop and shape emerging technologies instead of relying entirely on systems created elsewhere.

This, he suggested, requires universities to play a greater role in research, innovation and developing the skills needed to participate in technological change.

Decolonisation and African knowledge

Transformation remains another priority for the higher education sector, with Manamela calling for stronger African scholarship and greater recognition of the continent’s knowledge traditions.

He highlighted multilingualism and the meaningful integration of African perspectives into teaching and research, while maintaining engagement with international academic developments.

The minister also stressed the need to protect the academic profession, support emerging scholars and recognise the contributions of the humanities, arts, sciences and technology to national development.

His remarks placed intellectual transformation alongside the practical challenges of funding and preparing students for changing economic and social conditions.

Manamela questions whether the university system is fit for the future

Manamela challenged universities to assess whether their current structures and priorities adequately respond to South Africa’s most pressing challenges.

These include inequality, climate change, artificial intelligence, changes in the world of work and the unfinished work of democracy.

“If we were designing our university system today, knowing what we know about inequality, artificial intelligence, climate change, the future of work and the unfinished work of democracy, would we design the system we currently have?” he asked.

“If not, what are we prepared to change, and what must we protect?”

He said the future of higher education should be shaped collectively by government, universities, students, academics, workers and society.

His message was that universities need to preserve their role as independent centres of knowledge while adapting to the realities facing South Africa and the wider world.

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Source: The Citizen