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In the next decade, we’ll be rolling out the red carpet for not one, not two, but five brand-new universities. This bold move will broaden the horizons of professional qualifications available at our local tertiary institutions.

Currently, we’ve got 26 official government-owned universities under our belt, but the National Development Plan has even bigger fish to fry. By 2030, the aim is to open the doors of higher education to a whopping 1.6 million students. The hope is that all this space and opportunity will create more future leaders.

This grand vision isn’t just a pipe dream, though. It’s a call to action for the private sector to partner with the state, ensuring we meet the booming demand for educational hubs. And the ball is already rolling. Earlier this year, the Department of Higher Education and Training revealed that construction on two new government universities is set to kick off in 2025, per The Citizen.

These two new universities include the University of Policing and Crime Detection in Hammanskraal and the University of Science and Innovation in Ekurhuleni.

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the plan for these two institutions back in his 2020 State of the Nation Address (Sona), and the department’s head of infrastructure support, Bhekithemba Mlambo, updated the portfolio committee earlier this year, noting that the shared ballpark estimation figures for the building cost pointed to “a couple of billions”.

According to BusinessTech, the department aims to build capacity and professionalise the police service and crime prevention sector at the University of Policing and Crime Detection in Hammanskraal. The department said that the university is predicted to grow to approximately 2,700 students and 276 staff over the first 10 years, offering higher certificates, advanced certificates, diplomas, bachelors, post-grad diplomas, master’s and doctor of philosophy in all matters of policing.

As for the University of Science and Innovation, it will be built in the City of Ekurhuleni, with government-owned land in Boksburg identified as the prime location. The university is predicted to grow to approximately 2,000 students and 180 staff over the first 10 years of operation, offering degrees in Green Energy Tech, Air Traffic Control, Artificial Intelligence, as well as Aerospace, Aeronauticals, and Astro Engineering among a bunch of other qualifications in high-skill tech spaces.

In terms of private tertiary institutions, three more are set to open in the next couple of years, including Akademia, a bold R3-billion private Afrikaans university venture with the backing of Solidarity, positioned in Pretoria.

Meanwhile, the ADvTECH group is in the process of acquiring a suitable building that can be adapted into a university campus, subject to the Competition Commission’s approval. If the purchase goes through, the new university will result in an R419 million capital investment over the next two years, according to ADvTECH CEO Geoff Whyte.

“Expansion projects are currently underway at Rosebank College’s mega-campuses in Cape Town, Pretoria and Braamfontein,” added Whyte. “A new purpose-built Vega campus is under construction in Pretoria, adjacent to Varsity College, which will be more suitable than the existing premises.”

He said that AdvTech also completed expansion projects at the Varsity College Pretoria and Cape Town campuses to increase capacity in response to continued strong demand. Universities in SA are government-owned, which means private education providers cannot call themselves universities, but the group is on a mission to have all its tertiary education centres as universities.

Last but not least, JSE-listed private higher education specialist Stadio announced in March this year the planned construction of its comprehensive Durbanville campus in Cape Town. CEO Chris Vorster said it decided to start the Durbanville campus due to an increasing demand for another in-person campus.  Stadio offers almost 100 accredited courses, including law, policing, film, IT, architecture, education and chartered accounting and plans to open a new location with 1,000 students in 2026.

It’s good to see all of these new learning spaces on the horizon, even as the government plans to cut 2,400 teaching jobs in the province as a result of a severe budget cut of R3.8 billion.

[source:citizen]