JSE-listed private tertiary education specialist, Stadio Holdings says it will implement its expansion plan which includes the construction of its first comprehensive campus in Durbanville near Cape Town.
Stadio said it is is also close to submitting its application to accredit and register Stadio Multiversity as an Institute for private higher education, “a process which should be completed by June next year”. Once done, Stadio Multiversity will accommodate all the courses which are currently offered through the different Stadio brands.
The company is currently engaging with the Department of Higher Education & Training (DHET) and the Council on Higher Education (CHE) to find the best way to establish the multiversity. Stadio was unbundled from the schools group Curro Holdings in October 2017 to create two focussed leadership teams and listed on the JSE.
Speaking at Stadio’s second annual general meeting, CEO Dr Chris van der Merwe said that preparations for this expansion drive includes the implementation of Unit 4, a single view IT platform which is used by some of the world’s top universities.
“Unit 4 software programmes are engineered according to and aligned with the mind-sets of the modern school leaver and should make Stadio Multiversity even more attractive for school leavers,” Dr Van der Merwe said.
The local tertiary market provides Stadio with sufficient opportunities for expansion with the number of first year students at institutes of higher learning having doubled from 557,000 in 2000 to about 1.2 million in 2016, it said.
Of this 1.2 million, only 167,408 students enrolled at private tertiary institutions.
Private enrolments as a percentage of the total students in higher education in South Africa amounts to only 15% against a global average of about 35%, whilst many of the country’s 26 public universities currently show a lack of infrastructure and the amount of state subsidies also has its limit.
Furthermore, the number of qualifying school leavers for post-school education in 2016 was 442,672 in 2016, whilst the public universities could only accommodate 193,282 first year students, it said.
“Although we do not have accurate numbers, many thousands of young people with the ability to further their education at institutes for higher education simply do not get access. This is where Stadio Multiversity aim to play a key role in the future.
The National Development Plan aims to accommodate 1.6 million students in higher education by 2030. This calls for the private sector to hold hands with the state and implement best efforts so that every young person who wishes to further their studies should be afforded the opportunity to get access to a relevant place of learning.
Stadio Multiversity will therefore aim to initially accommodate 56,000 students by 2026 and even strive towards 100,000 students over time.
Since the listing of Stadio in 2017 and up to 2019 the focus was mainly on positioning the company by acquiring quality brands and implementing a fitting organisational structure. For the 2020 to 2021 period the company will start with greenfield developments in order to establish comprehensive campuses.
In the Western Cape Stadio is on track to go on site in 2019/2020 to develop their first comprehensive campus, subject to building regulation processes, which will offer courses in various faculties.
The company also identified a fitting piece of land for a comprehensive campus in Gauteng for 3,000 to 5,000 students and the board is currently considering this opportunity. “Although aware of the current state of the South African economy, the site shows lots of potential.”
Van der Merwe said that from 2022 to 2030 Stadio Multiversity will become better established, as it is easier to market one brand.
By then, the group aims to have six solid faculties through which it can offer more than 100 qualifications. These faculties will include Commerce, Management & Law, a Graduate School of Business, Creative Economies, Education & Humanities, Engineering & Information and a Faculty of Agriculture & Environmental Sciences.
“With three comprehensive campuses and about fourteen other (current) institutes of higher learning, we should easily accommodate 100,000 students with relatively low CAPEX spent.
“We are committed to widening access to tertiary education by giving qualifying school leavers, as well as working adults an opportunity to obtain a relevant qualification which can range from higher certificates to doctorates,” Van der Merwe said.
This article originally appeared on BusinessTech.co.za