10 MBA programmes shut down
Zibonele Ntuli
21 May 2004
The Council on Higher Education (CHE) has released a list of tertiary institutions that it has re-accredited to award Master of Business Administration (MBA) degrees.
Releasing the list on Thursday, CHE chairman Saki Macozoma said the institutions were accredited after a two-year review of MBA programmes awarded by public and registered private tertiary institutions.
Macozoma said the review, prompted by concerns over the proliferation of institutions offering MBAs in South Africa, sought to determine whether the quality of the MBAs met the minimum standards of the Higher Education Quality Committee.
"If there is no equity with quality, then we are paying lip service to equity and promoting a distorted and sham equity that does not prepare historically disadvantaged South Africans for high-level occupations and professions", Macozoma said.
Only six institutions were fully re-accredited, with 12 being conditionally re-accredited and 10
having their accreditation for MBA programmes withdrawn.
"We take no pleasure in withdrawing accreditation from these institutions; we would want to assist them to meet at least the minimum standards", Macozoma said.
The fully accredited institutions are:
University of Pretoria's Gordon Institute of Business Science.
Wits Business School.
University of Stellenbosch's Graduate School of Business.
University of Cape Town's Graduate School of Business.
University of South Africa's Graduate School of Leadership.
University of Pretoria's Graduate School of Management.
A number of private and public institutions were not accredited. These include the former Pietermaritzburg campus of the University of Natal's School of Business, Technikon Witwatersrand's School Operations Management, the Business School of Netherlands, and Cape Technikon's Graduate Centre for Management.
The institutions can re-apply for accreditation after a
two-year period.
The director for the programme of accreditation and coordination, Prem Naidoo, said that qualifications were valid for students who obtained their MBA degrees before the re-accreditation process.
He said over 2 500 students were currently enrolled with the institutions which had had their accreditation withdrawn. He added, however, that these students would be allowed to complete their courses.
"Their MBAs will be recognised, and students who wish to enroll for MBAs should check with the Department of Education if the institutions are accredited", he said.
Source: BuaNews
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