Former disadvantaged institutions up their game

Once sidelined, South Africa’s historically disadvantaged universities are now producing high-calibre chartered accounting graduates. Many of them grew up in poverty, making their achievements all the more remarkable.

But these universities require more support to boost student numbers and their capacity to deliver quality education.

South Africa has a shortage of chartered accountants. The good news is that the number of black chartered accountants in the pipeline, relative to those who are well established, is growing.

But student enrolment for the CA (SA) accounting stream at historically disadvantaged universities such as the Western Cape, Fort Hare, Zululand, Walter Sisulu, Limpopo and Venda lags behind the historically white universities.

Although funding is at the core of the problem, which is being addressed, the quality of teaching at these institutions is not question- able. In the 2016 January sitting of the initial test of competence exam — the first of two qualifying board exams aspiring CAs must pass — the University of Fort Hare’s newly accredited accounting faculty’s graduates outperformed those of many universities. Their pass rate of 92% matched students from the University of Pretoria.

The Walter Sisulu University is another case in point. Four years ago it started an initiative with the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (Saica), supported by financial aid from the department of higher education and training, to gain Saica accreditation for the university’s four-year BCompt (accounting science) degree.

This effort bore fruit earlier this year when 27 students graduated with the degree from the university’s initial 2012 intake.

In 2011, the University of Limpopo underwent a similar process of funding and support to achieve accreditation for the same degree.

There is wisdom in building capacity at historically disadvan- taged universities because people who live in the vicinity would no longer have to study in a city far from home.

Terence Nombembe, the chief executive of Saica, says: “Educating poor students is more than a case of just saying, ‘We’ll pay your fees’. If the student is from a poor background, especially from a rural village far away, there’s the matter of accommodation, meals, study materials and, of course, business skills.

“Plus, there’s the culture shock. An urban university environment may be very different to a student’s home environment, and difficulties adapting will affect academic performance.”

Despite these advantages, student numbers at these historically disadvantaged universities remain far lower than at other universities. Take Fort Hare, the oldest university in the country, for example. It has 12 000 students compared with 48 500 students at the University of Johannesburg and 32 703 students at the University of the Witwatersrand.

These numbers, in turn, affect the students themselves. Ntombi Mnconywa, the head of the accounting faculty at Fort Hare, said: “Because we have smaller numbers, we end up having one lecturer per subject, which puts us at a disadvantage compared to universities with bigger numbers where they have more than one lecturer per subject.”

Sizwe Nxasana, the chairperson of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme and of Saica’s Thuthuka bursary fund, sympathises with these problems. “At Thuthuka, we re-cognise the importance of building capacity at those universities.”

Batandwe Hashe completed a BCom accounting degree at Fort Hare in 2013 and is working as a trainee auditor in the office of the auditor general in East London. He rates the university highly for the quality of the lecturers, free books and the funding that is available for those who pass.

“It’s a supportive institution. If you work hard, you will definitely pass,” he says.

“Universities like Fort Hare need to attract more students and more funding to assist students and the institution. They need big lecture halls, student funding, lecturers being paid sufficiently, more academic trainees, libraries and transport for students who live far away.”

It’s a long list of needs but the outcome is worth it: successful graduates such as Hashe will change the levels of auditing and reporting in the public sector in his region.