The Independent Journal of Teaching and Learning Vol 1 2006

7 quality of programme offerings, and the provision being in the public interest (Higher Education Act, DoE, 1997). The state also controls the programmes that are offered through its quality assurance system in which programmes have to be accredited in order to be lawfully offered, and an institution must be able to demonstrate efficiency, effectiveness, value for money and most importantly, show how it meets the sense of public good described above. This includes requiring private institutions (like public ones) to promote social responsibility through community service programmes (White Paper 3, DoE, 1.27.8).

The regulations are there for good reasons. The proliferation of private higher education institutions in South Africa after 1994 and before the appropriate legislation and regulations were in place caused surprise and uneasiness in many quarters (CHE, 2000: 20-21). Surprise, because this was an unforeseen consequence of economic liberalisation and the abrupt internationalisation that took place as the apartheid system collapsed; for instance, several foreign universities set up satellite campuses in some of the major cities. Unease, because there were no legislation and steering mechanisms in place to control the emerging private sector and there were concerns about the detrimental effect the emerging private institutions could have on the public sector.

Once the appropriate legislation and regulations were in place the state turned its concern to the quality of provision. And rightly so. If private institutions were allowed to operate in a laissez faire market environment, the sector could become exploitative. It could take advantage of the many years of educational deprivation suffered by the majority of the population by being merely a profit-making venture. Whilst legislation and regulation were needed to keep some order in the system, quality assurance mechanisms were also needed to ensure that the private institutions provided good quality higher education programmes.

It was explicitly stated that quality assurance is an important element of the new form of governance proposed for higher education as well as one of the ways of drawing private higher education into the new system (Higher Education Quality Committee Founding Document, CHE, 2001: 1.1). In ways like these private institutions are steered so that they meet the same desiderata as public institutions.

So far this paper has concentrated on higher education as a form of public good. It is necessary for sustainable socio-economic growth, and for cultural and civic growth. It has been pointed out that (i) public higher education does not meet the conditions for being a public good in the strict sense of term, (ii) private institutions cannot merely be about profit; (iii) both have to meet a range of societal goods and so (iv) both meet a weak sense of public good.

HIGHER EDUCATION AS A PRIVATE GOOD Undoubtedly, higher education is also a private good. There is a range of private benefits that accrue to individuals who successfully complete a higher education programme. Academic certification is necessary for most positions of power, authority and prestige in society. It will usually enhance the graduate s prospect of a good job and the higher social status along with the material benefits this brings.

There is another important impact that higher education has on an individual. It plays a fundamental role in shaping an individual s life. Why? Through acquiring a broad range of generic and critical thinking skills, a knowledge of history, a recognition of the importance of social circumstances, an analytic capacity for making distinctions (Said, 1983: 15), a person gains an understanding of the world and constructs his or her identity within it. This enables a person to make informed and thereby more satisfying choices about their lives. As a consequence of which, he or she is more likely to engage in creative projects and so be able to change the world in some lasting way. Noble (2002) puts the point aptly when he writes: Education entails the utter integration of knowledge and the self, in a word self-knowledge. Here knowledge is defined by and, in turn, helps to define, the self. Knowledge and the knowledgeable person are basically inseparable. In other words, it is through higher education that a person gains the power