Opportunity Issue 104

South Africa’s technology-focussed universities are working
together to improve the country’s skill levels.
PROFILE
Technological Higher Education
Network South Africa
As a consortium of technology-focussed universities,
the Technological Higher Education Network South
Africa (THENSA) is geared to address the lack of critical
skills in South Africa. This is especially important in
light of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), which
will not only change the nature of how we work, but also create a
host of new jobs that demand new knowledge and dynamic skills.
THENSA’s primary aim is to support the work of its member
institutions and advance knowledge-sharing and good practice.
The network consists of Full and Associate members located across
South Africa, Africa, Europe, the United States of America and
Australasia. THENSA strives to promote relevant, impactful and
globally-competitive qualifications, skills, research and innovation
in partnership with business, industry and research institutes.
THENSA has a track record for developing programmes which
tackle the absence of critical skills and outputs in South Africa.
THENSA’s bespoke PhD, Masters and Supervisory Enhancement
Programmes have contributed significantly to giving lecturers
the opportunity to acquire their PhDs and grow as academics.
This programme, in partnership with the Tshwane University of
Technology (TUT), and with funding from the Department of Higher
Education and Training (DHET), responded to the transformation
agenda and the National Development Plan (NDP) 2030, resulting
in 70% of its cohort of PhDs being black women academics.
Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, THENSA developed an Online and
Face to Face Entrepreneurship Programme, equipping students with
the skills to support business start-ups and new venture creation.
These Entrepreneurship Programmes are currently available to the
higher education sector. In addition, THENSA developed its Graduate
Employability App (GEA), a portal which tracks graduates, provides
updates on employment opportunities, allows businesses to select
suitable candidates for internships and offers online assistance for
the preparation of interviews and CV building. It delivers information
to universities about curriculum relevance and challenges students
have in industry, ensuring that curricula remain responsive.
In 2019, THENSA partnered with MILZET Institute to run
a programme that upskills and reskills South Africans in the
Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) database, specifically
in the fields of hairdressing, beauty and nails, real estate and
environmental practice.
In collaboration with OBREAL-Global Observatory in Spain
and six European countries, THENSA, through the Erasmus Plus
grant, formed the Higher Education Reform Experts in South
Africa (HERESA) within its member institutions. HERESA seeks
to develop policy that will improve teaching and learning strategies,
Work- Integrated learning (WIL) strategies, Competence-Based Learning
(CBL), Curricula for the 4IR and Entrepreneurship Education.
At the THENSA International Conference held in South Africa in March
2022, THENSA launched WILSA and became a member of the World
Association for Cooperative Education (WACE).
The most critical outcome of the THENSA delegation visit to Ireland
in 2022 was the discussion of the Tourism Education Gateway Platform
(TEG), based on a similar model in Ireland, which THENSA will host for the
purpose of upskilling and reskilling tourism personnel, providing them
with portable qualifications that will contribute to the professionalisation
and internationalisation of the tourism sector.
THENSA was delighted to have secured a three-year grant from
the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) to build capacity in
strategic areas of academic programming and innovation within the
public higher-education sector. The purpose of this project is to bolster
capacity in the fields of Technology Transfer Innovation, Entrepreneurship,
Research Capacity Development and Commercialisation.
In October 2019, THENSA, in partnership with Technological Higher
Education Association (THEA) in Ireland, established the South Africa-
Ireland Research Cluster Programme, involving a select group of their
respective member institutions. These clusters focuses in the fields of
International Tourism, Research and Training, Work-Integrated Learning
(WIL) and Curriculum Development for the 4IR, Agriculture and Food
Security, COVID-19 Pandemic Management, Waste Management and
the Circular Economy, Space Science, Innovation Hubs and ICT and
Biomedical Engineering, Robotics and Advanced Manufacturing.
Since the conclusion of this Programme, THENSA is happy to report
that the Agriculture and Food Security Cluster has attracted co-funding
to conduct a study on low-cost biological treatment of dairy waste
water. The Space Science Cluster has submitted a grant on the use of
satellite imagery for seaweed farming, and initiated a project aimed at
establishing a Space Academy in South Africa which will offer curricula
that are co-developed and co-taught by South African and Irish academics
and industry experts.
Given the tremendous success of the Research Cluster Programme,
THENSA has received a second round of funding from the Irish Embassy
in South Africa. The new clusters will focus on the Circular Economy
Research Innovation Curriculum for the 4IR, Science Parks and Business
Units and the continuation of the Tourism Research Cluster.
THENSA’s cross-collaborative and inter-organisational approach to
building critical skills will not only address our country’s most pressing
issues, but set a standard of global excellence and competitiveness
that will benefit the lives of all South Africans.
Contact: THENSA Office
Alma du Toit House, 210 Steve Biko Road, Sunnyside, Pretoria 0002
Tel: +27 12 382 4896 | Email: admin@thensa.co.za | Website: www.thensa.co.za