The impact of programme accreditation in a transformed higher education institution

The perception held by academic staff of programme re-accreditation has been a major problem in South African Higher Education Institutions. Academics are concerned about the influence of the government in their daily operation, while the government claims that they want to be accountable to the public for money spent on Higher Education. To a large extent, academics believe that the role of the government amounts to interfering rather than being accountable and that the academic freedom of academics has been violated. The participants of the study were academics from the School of Teacher Education at the Central University of Technology, Free State. Questionnaires, documentary analysis, and interviews were used as the main data collection instruments. The study revealed that a negative perception amongst academic staff existed with regard to programme re-accreditation. Furthermore, the study also established that it is still difficult for academic staff to identify the difference between the role played by the government (accountability) and as compared to academic freedom