Speaking at the Universitas 21 Management Summit in Glasgow, Mpedi said that while enrolment across South Africa’s public universities has actually nearly doubled because completion of apartheid, institutions are still turning away great deals of qualified candidates and facing financial and infrastructure restraints.
Public university enrolment has actually grown from around half a million students in 1994 to almost a million by 2011, and that development has continued given that, he described.
However, capability has not kept pace. For the existing academic year, Mpedi said, the University of Johannesburg got around 450,000 candidates, producing approximately 850,000 individual applications, for just 11,200 first‑year places.
“A number of you might state it’s a great location to be, however it’s challenging also to turn away people who fulfill your minimum requirements,” he said.Mpedi highlighted infrastructure and capability restraints in the higher education system, paired with student lodging shortages and funding challenges, consisting of an approximated 16.5 billion rand in collected trainee debt throughout public universities.South Africa’s National Student Financial assistance Scheme is meant as a
safety net, however” not everybody is covered,”stated Mpedi. A large group of students fall under what he described as the” missing middle “– students who fall outdoors financial assistance limits yet stay unable to afford higher education. Mpedi said his university is seeking to digital arrangement as a method to
extend chances.”In 2025, the University of Johannesburg released what we call UJ Digital,”he discussed–” an extensive online knowing platform created to extend discovering chances beyond the limits of schools”. Last year, UJ Digital registered around 20,000 individuals, with more than 130 offerings ranging from
brief learning programs upwards, and more being added each year. While some see online as a”cheap “choice, Mpedi argued that– done effectively– digital education is “something to think about “both for quality and for equity.”The digital divide is a huge difficulty that we are having,” he acknowledged, but stated the university makes sure that online learners are not dealt with as second‑class trainees. His objective is a”digital twin of the brick‑and‑mortar school”that includes access to support and counselling. Mpedi positioned the university’s strategy clearly in regards to social effect.”We do not want to be the
best university worldwide. We say we want to be the very best university for the world,”he stated. “One of the themes of our tactical plan is that everything that we’re doing as a university needs to have a positive effect on the society. ” We do not wish to be the best university
in the world. We say we want to be the very best university for the world … whatever that we’re doing as a university should have a positive influence on the society Letlhokwa Mpedi, vice‑chancellor and principal, University of Johannesburg A lot of Johannesburg’s students are the very first
in their families to go to university, and Mpedi stated watching them graduate stays a source of optimism.”When they finish, they do not just change their own
lives, they change the lives of their households, the communities they come from,”he informed the summit.” That offers me hope.”The University of Johannesburg is the just South African university and the only African member of the U21 network with Mpedi keeping in mind that “UJ’s participation ensured that African viewpoints form part of international discussions on the future of higher education”. “We stay concentrated on reinforcing worldwide collaborations and making sure that cooperation equates into real impact for society, both in South Africa and internationally, “he included.”It was a benefit to participate in a Leaders
‘Top that was so thoughtfully preceded by the U21 Annual Network Fulfilling, which set a strong collective tone for these vital discussions.”