Eastern Cape Higher Education Association

ECHEA represents all ten the Higher Education Institutions (UPE; Fort Hare; P E Technikon; Border Technikon; UNISA; Technikon SA; Vista; Rhodes; EC Technikon; UNITRA) currently operating in the Eastern Cape Province. Our mission is to work towards equity and redress via capacity-building projects and resource sharing.

We are committed to co-operative endeavours - in order to share resources (eg. via a library consortium); build capacity (eg. staff development); facilitate access (eg. via a central admissions office and via RPL mechanisms); stream-line articulation (eg. via credit transfer agreements); and to the development of inter-institutional projects (research; quality control; trans-institutional schools and / or institutes etc.). The Board (vice chancellors and principals of our member institutions) has identified the setting up of a "state-of-the-art" electronics communication network linking all our campuses as its priority project: this will provide a "backbone" for projects such as the Library Sharing Consortium and the Central Admissions Office.

We are building a database of needs and strengths. We wish to foster across-institutional "bottom-up" forums to build awareness of a co-operative culture and to identify needs.

Various regional stake-holders are working with and through ECHEA , eg. The Interim Steering Committee (ISC) representing Higher Education research in the province / the regional Student Counsellors’ Association, the South Eastern Academic Libraries’ System (SEALS), the National Registrars’ Association, Health Science Faculty representatives, management and faculty interested in recognition of prior learning (RPL) instruments etc. ECHEA is interested in assisting with streamlining / "rationalization" of academic / professional programmes (eg. Teacher Education).

ECHEA has set up a Trust in order to receive and administer funds. Ford Foundation has provided "seed" funding for the setting up of our permanent office : our members also paid a pro-rata levy based on student numbers to assist with the establishment of the Office. At present we are applying for funding for specific projects. (For example, funding for a feasibility study for a Library / Information Literacy project has been procured).

The challenge is huge : however, with the "massification" of Higher Education, an expanded system where there will nevertheless be quality control , is an exciting challenge that must be met. We believe that regional co-operation and shared capacity-building amongst our Higher Education member institutions is the way to go.