End of South African universities as you know them

South African universities are being forced to overhaul how they educate students as artificial intelligence (AI) continues to transform workplaces, with experts arguing that traditional university degrees are no longer enough.

The country’s universities must now rethink what they teach, how they teach it, and what students actually need to succeed after graduation.

According to Wits University’s Dean of Student Affairs, Jerome September, the role of universities has shifted fundamentally over the past five years.

“The degree is no longer the full package,” September explained on Investec’s No Ordinary Wednesday podcast with Jeremy Maggs.

“That is a foundation, and what we’ve got to do is help our students on a journey towards learning sets of skills, behaviours and values that make them think not just about a job tomorrow, but about economic participation.”

While Covid-19 sparked questions about the future of in-person learning, September believes artificial intelligence has become the defining force reshaping higher education.

“The big shift has been AI and the impact of AI, the digital world, and how we now think about the kind of graduates that we send into the world,” he said.

Universities are now preparing students for a future where careers are less predictable and learning never truly ends.

“For the first-year student, it is about thinking of university as part of a lifelong process. I’m constantly going to need to upskill, unlearn, relearn, and find new ways of being,” he said.

That changing world also means universities can no longer focus solely on academic content. September argued that some of the most valuable lessons happen outside the lecture hall.

Students should make full use of clubs, societies, leadership opportunities, and sports because these experiences develop many of the capabilities employers increasingly demand.

“It is in the leadership position, it is on the sports field, it is in the debating society, it is in the residences that some of those boundaries are pushed,” he said.

Those experiences, he explained, are essential for building soft skills, resilience and the ability to engage with people from different backgrounds.

“It’s that emotional intelligence, the critical thinking, the pushing of boundaries, but also this unquestioning commitment to excellence,” he said.

South African universities must evolve

Rather than resisting AI, September said universities need to embrace it while teaching students how to use it responsibly.

“AI is here. Our students are using it every single day, and we as universities have got to embrace that,” he said.

However, he stressed that the real skill is not simply generating answers with large language models like ChatGPT, but critically analysing the information these models provide.

Universities are also placing greater importance on academic integrity and the ethical use of AI from students’ first days on campus.

The transformation extends beyond classrooms. September said universities themselves need greater flexibility if they are going to remain relevant in the future.

“I think there’s probably a conversation that needs to be had about a more adaptive regulatory framework,” he said. “At the moment, it is really difficult for a university to change course content.”

Instead, he said universities need to embrace lifelong learning through micro-credentials, short courses, and closer collaboration with industry to respond more quickly to changing skills demands.

“The degree is still relevant in preparing you for the longer term and laying that foundation, but there are immediate skills that are needed and constant upgrading of those skills,” he said.

September added that entrepreneurship should also become a far bigger part of higher education.

Rather than seeing themselves solely as job seekers, graduates should leave university prepared to create businesses and employment opportunities of their own.

“It is about economic participation. The graduate should not only think of themselves as a job seeker, but as a job creator,” he said.

Failure to adapt carries serious consequences, particularly as graduate unemployment continues to fuel questions about the value of a university education.

“If we only think about immediate employability, we’re probably positioning ourselves out of relevance,” he warned.

However, September stressed that despite rapid technological change, universities must remain true to their broader purpose.

“The university has always been about more than the technical skills. It has been about developing a citizen – a full human being who can think, who can reason and who owns sets of values,” he said.

As AI reshapes almost every profession, September believes the institutions that thrive will be those that move beyond producing graduates with technical knowledge alone.

Instead, the universities of the future will be judged by whether they can produce adaptable lifelong learners capable of questioning, creating and solving problems in an increasingly uncertain world.