That includes medicine, physical and life sciences, and fine arts. That brings me to the problem that these numbers illustrate. SA university administrations have reacted irrationally to changes in demand and income. They coddle disciplines with falling student numbers, at the expense of those that are growing. The Ministry of Education should do a proper assessment of what each subject ought to cost.
Computer science is a subject under threat, with a worldwide skills shortage.
If academic departments are faced with massive budget cuts, many will simply fold. At Wits, the School of Computer Science has a remarkable international profile for its size and lack of institutional support, but this strength makes it relatively easy for us to leave. The fragile situation academic computer science finds itself in is incredible given how important everyone claims IT to be. Even if government and university administrations are too stupid to see the incongruity of labelling an area as important and then cutting its funding, perhaps you are not. The Ministry of Education has called for comment on the document.