The Eastern Cape Higher Education Sector National Dialogue Launch was hosted by Nelson Mandela University on 1 November 2025.
The Education Collaborative is a consortium of African higher education institutions with a common goal: to transform systems and strengthen institutional, regulatory and student outcomes across the continent.
The Convening will bring together higher education leaders and partners from across Southern Africa to co-create solutions that improve student outcomes and reimagine education systems in the region.
Executive Director of the Education Collaborative, Rose A. Dodd emphasised the scale and collective ambition of the network: “By participating in the network, institutions enhance their ability to improve graduate outcomes, elevate standards across the sector, and contribute to our bold vision of impacting over 1.1 million students by 2030, who have the right character and skillset to create and lead industry, economies, and business.”
Director of the Southern Africa Hub, Dr Naziema Jappie, is renowned for her innovation and dedication to student experience and success. Drawing on over 30 years of educational leadership, she has continually pushed the boundaries of traditional methods to create dynamic and inclusive teaching and learning environments.
Critical questions the Southern Africa Convening will address include:
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How can institutions collaborate to drive sustainable student success across the Southern Africa region?
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How can student support systems, housing, health and well-being, be strengthened to promote success?
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How can institutions integrate academic and co-curricular experiences to enhance holistic student development?
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How can institutions empower students to become co-creators in shaping their own learning experiences and driving institutional transformation?
Similar themes were raised on 1 November 2025, at the Eastern Cape Higher Education Sector National Dialogue Launch, hosted by Nelson Mandela University.
“Universities — and the Post-School Education and Training (PSET) sector as a whole — are at a crossroads. We must rethink, with urgency and clarity, what it is we want to achieve,” said Professor Azwinndini Muronga, theoretical physicist and the Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research, Innovation and Internationalisation at Nelson Mandela University who spoke at the Dialogue.
Extending this to the Convening, he highlighted the critical importance of this sub-Saharan HE gathering: “The turbulence we face in our society, economy, education system and political life is not merely cyclical — it is structural. We need a shared purpose that brings together education, government, business, labour, and communities to produce a comprehensive landscape for the future workforce, including entrepreneurs and business owners.”
This shared purpose needs to be based on excellence, added Prof Muronga. “Excellence begins where the future begins, with the curriculum – what we teach — how we teach it, how dynamic and responsive it is to the challenges we face and the rapid technological advances globally.
“To achieve these goals, we must adopt the quintuple helix model of innovation — uniting academia, government, industry, civil society and the natural environment in a shared mission. No single sector can solve the complex challenges alone. Collaboration must become our norm.”