Govt to do varsity admissions

2003-08-17 10:47

Johannesburg - Education Minister Kader Asmal wants to establish a government agency to decide which students will be admitted to universities and technikons, the Sunday Times reported on Sunday.

It said Asmal intends setting a national admission criteria to which the country's 36 universities and technikons would have to adhere from 2008.

The R35m Higher Education Information and Application Service, based in KwaZulu-Natal, would process admission applications for all tertiary institutions nationwide and allocate students to these institutions.

At present, university councils set the criteria for admission, based largely on learners' subjects and performance in the matric exams.

Asmal's plans, which are expected to come into effect from 2007 onwards, when the new school-leaving Further Education and Training Certificate start, have been slammed by the country's vice-chancellors, who described them as an attempt to undermine academic freedom and autonomy.

- SAPA