Communication Pathology: The Way In Africa*

Abstract

Universities in Southern Africa are currently deeply involved in transformation processes in order to ensure world class tertiary education. More specifically in the case of vocationally oriented tertiary programmes, it has become necessary to provide answers to questions like: are the academic outcomes of higher education relevant to and accountable in the context of the workplace? For the Department of Communication Pathology at the University of Pretoria the answer is unequivocal - a programme that aims to provide learning opportunities for professionals who must eventually render a service to a specific population (the individual with a speech, voice; language or hearing disorder), should ensure that the characteristics of this population serve as the basis for strategic planning. This population is an African population. Educational programmes, research projects and community service must therefore be africanised.