Kontemporêre uitdagings aan universiteite in die akademiese voorbereiding van openbare administrateurs

Abstract

The task of the university over the centuries was to serve as a centre for research and education in the basic sciences. Due to the increasing number of professions in the past, for which higher academic training became a prerequisite, university departments had to start specializing in a wide variety of disciplines. The tendency towards overspecialization led to a hypertrophy in the science, i.e. overstressing a small portion of the science. The related epistemological principles and philosophies of the science had to make way for the sheer utility of differentiated professional training. The united nature of the science was disrupted in order to comply with the demands for practical desktraining which could have been acquired through in-service training. Public Administration could not escape these demands and because of the stereotyped paradigmatic approach in Pubic Administration, specialization in the discipline became a general occurrance. The university is not technically suitable for the training of public administrators, because training is concerned with learning of a programmed sequence of actions and behaviours, without the philosophical and metaphysical questioning of the theoretical basis. On the contrary, the university is only able to educate public administrators in research methodology, logic and sound judgement, aspects which mark administrative leaders of our time. From the side of the government this approach is supported and universities are encouraged to provide relevant and practically applicable theories and philosophies for educational purposes in order to meet the contemporary challenges in constitutional and institutional reform. The contemporary university is faced with provoking challenges in the academic preparation of public administrators to meet the growing demands of the future.