2018 marks Sol Plaatjie University’s fifth year since its establishment, and of a period in which South Africa’s youngest university has made notable achievements.
1. Institutional development of a new Sol Plaatje University
Sol Plaatje University was established by Government Gazette on 23 August 2013. The then Minister of Higher Education and Training, Dr Nzimande, appointed a five-person interim council in August 2013. This was made up of Ms Jenny Glennie (Chair), Mr Abel Madonsela, Prof Vishnu Padayachee, Dr Yvonne Muthien and Mr Maruping Lekwene.
The Interim Head, Prof Yunus Ballim, was appointed in September 2013.
The first full Council, with Judge Yvonne Mokgoro as Chair, was properly constituted in August 2014.
2. Student profile supports transformation and empowerment
2014 marked the first year of academic teaching at the Sol Plaatje University. Since then, the 134 students, who enrolled at the start, have grown to 1,550 in 2018.
Currently, about 75% of Sol Plaatje University’s students are residents from the Northern Cape and are predominantly African and Coloured students from rural or township schools.
2017 saw a small growth in Indian and White students, mainly from the Kimberley area.
Around 58% of the students enrolled in 2018 are women. This enrolment pattern points to the positive contribution by SPU to transformation, equity and to its stated intention to redress the damage caused by apartheid.
Importantly, the Higher Certificate in Heritage Studies has proven to be an effective articulation programme that allows successful students to gain access into the degree and diploma programmes in humanities, economic and management sciences, and education with credit or exemption for some of the first year modules.
3. Fully entrenched undergraduate programme
SPU began its academic teaching in 2014 with three directed academic programmes that were planned to respond to the stated education needs of the Northern Cape region – Bachelor of Education (BEd) in Senior Phase and FET teaching, a Diploma in Retail Business Management and a Diploma in ICT Applications Development.
In 2015, the Higher Certificate in Heritage Studies and the BSc (Data Science) programmes were added and these have continued to draw interest from students, funders and employers.
In the same year, the Bachelor of Education was broadened to include Intermediate Phase teaching and incorporated teaching specialisations in languages and the social sciences.
The three formative qualifications – Bachelor of Arts (BA); Bachelor of Science (BSc) and Bachelor of Commerce (BComm) – were introduced in 2016 and the first graduates from these programmes are expected at the end of 2018.
4. Excellent student academic performance
Since 2014, student academic performance has been outstanding with an average course-pass rate above 85% – in other words, on average, 85% of students registered for a study module, passed the module.
2017 saw 111 graduates from different academic programmes at SPU and this group represented 65% completion in minimum time. As comparison, the national average for minimum time completion in higher education was around 27%.
5. First 10 postgraduate programmes to be introduced
After five years of consolidating our undergraduate programmes, the University is now well on its way to introducing its first postgraduate programmes at the NQF levels 7 and 8, following approval by the Department of Higher Education and Training and the Council for Higher Education.
Please see our latest programmes for 2019 for more details.
6. Financial support for students
The University has built a tradition of securing sufficient external bursaries to support students from financially needy homes with their studies.
In 2018, approximately 78% of enrolled students who were considered to be financially needy and the University successfully secured funding for this group.
Much of this funding was obtained through State support like NSFAS grants and Funza Lushaka bursaries, but SPU also enjoys support from the private sector to provide funding for our students.
7. Landmark infrastructure programme
The past five years have seen the completion of the first phase of the refurbishment and construction programme, representing a capital expenditure of approximately R1,4 billion which included teaching spaces, staff offices and on-site residences
accommodating close on 600 students. The innovative architecture, engineering design and academic functionality have brought national and international recognition to SPU, mainly because of our student-focused approach to developing the buildings and precincts of SPU.
The construction programme has seen the completion of six new buildings as well as the refurbishment of the main North Campus building, now known as Luka Jantjie House.
8. Support for students gets top priority
The team in the Student Affairs Office, reporting to the DVC: Academic, has consolidated the living and learning support for students in areas such as residence management, student counselling, academic mentoring, and general health and wellness of our students.
Protocols and partnerships have also been developed with medical facilities in the city area to ensure that these services are readily available to the students when needed.
9. Broader skills development and community empowerment also taking place
Included in SPU’s approach to new infrastructure construction is a particular focus on local employment and procurement, as well as demonstrable skills development of local employees on the projects.
In the first phase of the new construction, which started in 2014, contractors provided some 11,000 person days of formal training to workers which led to certification or completion of qualifications.
