MP calls for help for local black doctoral students

South Africa is not doing enough to “grow its own timber” and support local black doctoral and postdoctoral students, according to parliamentary higher education and training portfolio committee chairman Ishmael Malale, writes Bekezela Phakathi for Business Day.

He said parliament’s impression was that most black doctoral students in the country were from other African countries such as Zimbabwe and Nigeria. South Africa is a popular academic destination in Africa. Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande, in reply to a parliamentary question, said South African universities had responded “very positively” since the signing of the Southern African Development Community protocol on education and training in 1997.

However Malale said while South Africa had a responsibility to help the continent grow the knowledge economy, it had a particular responsibility to "elevate" local students. Targets needed to be set in order to grow the number of local black doctoral students, he said.
Full report on the Business Day site