In 2000, George Dei of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto wrote that “inclusion is not bringing people into what already exists; it is making a new space, a better space for everyone”.
The University of Johannesburg , in its current iteration, came into being in 2005 as part of the massive restructuring of the higher education landscape initiated by the Ministry of Education in the wake of the publication of the first National Plan for Higher Education of 2001. The new institution grouped together the Rand Afrikaans University, Technikon Witwatersrand and two Vista campuses — one in Soweto and the other in Daveyton, Ekurhuleni.
As the former minister of education, Kader Asmal aptly said: “There can be no doubt that the higher education landscape is well on its way to reflecting the values, ethos and aspirations of our democracy, away from the false divisions of the apartheid past, which have for too long scarred our higher education system and limited its ability to truly respond to the current and future needs of our country.
As this new institution came into being, it was apparent that inclusivity had to be at the fore of the agenda if we had any hope of achieving what seemed impossible goals. Though we often speak of inclusivity in broader terms, the reality is that this begins at an institutional level.
This is shocking. Does anyone actually do any study or research there?