Exploring Student Leadership Participation in Institutional Policy Making and Governance

Abstract

Since the dawn of democracy in South Africa, the government, through various policies, has sought to democratise most of its sectors, including higher education. The Higher Education Act (Act 101 of 1997) mandates higher education institutions to open the broader involvement and participation of student representative councils (SRCs) in university governance by contributing to policy making through memoranda of understanding between the university and the student populace. While students and student leaders are not deemed policy experts in university governance platforms and are not expected to possess the necessary professional training and skills to deliberate and make meaningful contributions at the executive management level, SRC members are required, by legislation, to be the collective voice of the larger student population, and thus their views are embedded in institutional policies. Not only does this stretch their limited professional understanding but it also poses impossible demands on them to meet a certain standard. This situation is, to a large extent, endorsed by mandatory government regulation which must be complied with by institutions of higher learning in South Africa. Yet these regulations and institutional statutes are silent on the ways in which the capacity and training of student leaders should be facilitated, raising the question of how their knowledge will be developed and how their contributions during the term of SRC will be measured. This paper seeks to address two important aspects relating to the institutionalisation of SRCs' involvement in policy decision-making. First, to delve into the regulatory framework which outlines student governance, and, secondly, to scrutinise the participation of student leaders in governance structures at institutions of higher learning