Taabo Mugume

• University of the Free State

Research shows that education is an important resource in lowering recidivism and increasing life opportunities for previously incarcerated individuals. Therefore, access to higher education is essential for re-integration into communities. This article explores the mechanisms that South African universities have in place to encourage access for st...

While the influence of political parties on student politics has been a topic of investigation for a long time, little research has been done in relation to Africa's young democracies and the re-emergence of multi-party politics in these countries. It is with this understanding that this study assesses a theoretical framework adapted from Schmitter...

What are the characteristics and implications of the relationship between student leaders and national political parties in African universities? As the most prestigious university of Uganda, Makerere University represents a model case for investigating the involvement of political parties in student politics. Drawing on propositions adapted from W...

How can we begin to make sense of the diversity of hashtag student movements that sprang up in South Africa in the course of 2015? In this paper we start by presenting key elements of Altbach’s empirical theory of student movements and Castells’ conceptualisation of internet-age networked movements to propose as conceptual point of departure the no...

Until recently, public universities had a near monopoly in providing higher education in many countries on the African continent. The market-friendly reforms initiated as a consequence of Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) and a new policy environment among others created an encouraging environment for the emergence of private higher education...

Student representation is typically seen as one of the key aspects of higher education governance across the globe, and it is essential for a full understanding of the higher education polity, politics and policies. Student representative bodies, variably called student associations, councils, guilds, unions or governments have the primary aim to r...

South African universities have been facing a critical shortage in the provision of studenthousing for several years now, and the establishment of public–private partnerships(PPPs) is seen as part of the solution to address the shortage (Rensburg, 2011). Thisarticle investigates the effectiveness of the Students’ Representative Council (SRC) ofthe...

Taking Castells’ notion of development as a starting point, it is possible to appreciate the critical roles that universities play in the development of citizenship and democratic leadership in Africa. According to Castells (2014: 3), development is ‘the self- defined process … by which humans, as a collective, enhance their wellbeing by creating t...

The transition from one-party rule and other forms of authoritarianism to multiparty democracy in the 1990s has had a profound impact on the organisation and role of student politics in Africa. Against the background of student involvement in African politics in the twentieth century, leading up to student participation in Africa's ‘second liberati...