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Ask anyone to imagine what a higher education institution looks like, and they are likely to describe an 'ivory tower' campus with old stone buildings set in a lush backdrop of cultural and sports facilities. Take it a step further, and ask what associations are made in people’s minds with public, state-provided higher education and private, for-profit education and training. The answer will more than likely link public provision with the interests of the public ‘good’, and private institutions with being exclusive and ‘bad’. It is these, and other notions surrounding the delivery of higher education, particularly private higher education in South Africa, that are exposed and examined in Chasing Credentials and Mobility: Private Higher Education in South Africa, by Dr Glenda Kruss, a Chief Research Specialist in the Human Resources Development (HRD) Research Programme of the HSRC. By exploring a range of private higher education facilities offering post-secondary education and training, Kruss presents a study of diverse, contemporary institutions – ranging from refurbished inner-city office blocks to residential campuses – that have arisen to address the demands of an increasingly skilled, de-racialising and globalised society. Basing her book on an empirical, qualitative study of 15 private higher education institutions, including interviews with staff and students, Kruss contributes usefully to an otherwise polarised debate around ‘good’ public and ‘bad’ private higher education. The central argument of the book is that the dichotomy is too simplistic, and does not help understanding of the sector. The book tries to broaden the picture of private provision, and explore both its competitive and complementary aspects, in relation to public provision. The origins and history of the 15 private cases are traced, their mission statements recorded, the demands of their students surveyed and their governance and funding investigated. By showcasing a sweep of private providers, which offer a range of qualifications from high-end MBA degrees to diplomas in Health and Beauty, Kruss identifies a crucial and significant divide between two distinct forms of private institutions. The one is characterised as a private provider which claims to meet a demand for ‘better’ education than the public sector provides. These institutions primarily function to offer mobility – both internationally and locally – to historically and newly privileged socio-economic groups. There is a strong accent on business and management courses within the curriculum, in degree level programmes. The other can be seen as emphasising education that is 'different' to that offered in the public sector, and functions to meet a demand for recognised credentials that have status in a specialised niche market. There is a strong impetus to create a skilled labour force within this grouping of facilities. Many courses are geared towards the new service industries such as Tourism, Entertainment and New Media, in certificate and diploma level programmes at the intermediate skills level. As Kruss develops the concept of demand for private higher education geared to either mobility or credentials, she also examines both constructs in terms of their potential to either compete with or complement public facilities, notably academic universities and more career-orientated technikons, as well as vocationally orientated Further Education and Training colleges. The book makes no commentary on the present quality of private provision, and it is likely, that were such an investigation to be completed, it would be unfavourable to some private providers. What the book does do is suggest that the terms of engagement with each form of private provider should differ. For those that address a demand for mobility and high skills employability, issues of quality are strongly linked to processes of regulation of provision, to ensure that private interests and the potential for competition do not prevail, to the detriment of the social good. For those addressing a demand for credentials, issues of quality are more closely linked to co-ordination of provision to ensure that the potential for complementarity, to contribute to intermediate skills development in the public interest, does indeed prevail. In the process, the dichotomised image of ‘good’ public providers and ‘bad’ private institutions is dismissed in favour of searching for higher education transformation and solutions within a democratised, globalised society. Chasing Mobility and Credentials offers an empirically informed and balanced contribution to a highly charged and controversial education debate. Chasing Mobility and Credentials: Private Higher Education in South Africa, published by HSRC Press, offers an empirically informed and balanced contribution to a highly charged and controversial education debate.
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