INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY COMPETENCE IN UNDERGRADUATE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION CURRICULA by LIZA CECIEL VAN JAARSVELDT Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF LITERATURE AND PHILOSOPHY In the subject PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION at the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA SUPERVISOR: PROF JS WESSELS CO-SUPERVISOR: PROF EC STRÖH NOVEMBER 2010 RECOGNITION AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to extend my gratitude to the following people and institutions, who have contributed to the completion of this thesis: • First and foremost I am grateful to God who has put me on this path and given me dreams and opportunities and surrounded me with people who have supported me all the way. • I am sincerely thankful to my family, especially my mother for her continuous love and encouragement in writing this thesis. Thank you for the sacrifices you have made through the years in helping me to study, learn and gain more knowledge and wisdom. Thank you for always believing in me. • A heartfelt thank you to my promoter and mentor, Professor JS Wessels, for his leadership and assistance and continued encouragement. Also for his unwavering support and for going above and beyond his duty to back me during my difficult times. Without your understanding and aid this thesis would not have been possible. • A huge thank you to my joint promoter, Professor EC Ströh, for his direction, dedication, wisdom and patience. Thank you for all the fast and concise feedback, advice and knowledge that you so willingly shared with me. Your contribution has made this thesis richer, fuller and refined. • Thank you to the University of South Africa (UNISA) and the Department of Public Administration and Management for equipping and facilitating me. Thank you for the opportunity to work, study, learn and grow under your wing. • Thank you to all my colleagues that supported me in doing this research, especially Professor DJ Brynard, Professor GM Ferreira and Professor M van Heerden. I know I can always count on you for advice, support and guidance. ii • Thank you to all my friends that supported me with patience during the writing of this thesis. I would like to especially thank Mr Andre van Schalkwyk, my colleague and friend, for being a pillar of encouragement; always willing and never too busy (in a manner of speaking) to assist me. • A big thank you to Me Yolanda McCabe for her continued friendship over many years. I also appreciate the computer assistance, grammar tips, editing and time that you spent helping me. • Thank you to everyone else, including Me Melanie Malan in the library that assisted me and made my research more accessible and user-friendly. iii DECLARATION Student number: 3545-936-0 I declare that “Information Technology competence in undergraduate Public Administration curricula” is my own work and that all the resources that I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by means of complete references. LC van Jaarsveldt Date iv SUMMARY This research was selected after the South African Minister of Public Service and Administration, Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi’s, statement in the Budget vote speech of 2002 that government spent an estimated R3 billion per annum on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) goods and services, but that only 20 percent of public servants are computer literate. In 2004, this was illustrated again by the Minister who stated that the government will be recruiting new skilled personnel and that the recruitment will take place primarily from African countries, India and Iran. During 14 to 17 November 2005 the Minister lead a delegation to India with the specific purpose of reaching agreements between the two countries for assistance by the Indian public service through the transfer of Indian public servants, as well as training interventions and mentorship programmes for South African public servants. Information technology is one of the key strategies that governments can use to reform and improve public service delivery. Large amounts of information are required to deliver public services, for example pension and unemployment administration. However, to make proper use of and benefit from information technology public servants will need information technology skills and knowledge. It is generally accepted that universities provide Public Administration education to students that will become the future workforce in the public service. It is the duty of a university to provide scientifically inspired career education to students. Universities undertake to provide the knowledge as well as higher education to students in order to function effectively in the workplace. A student studying for a career should be able to gain knowledge about the field of study and gain the necessary skills to be used in practice. Thus, students in Public Administration should not only have knowledge about the subject Public Administration, they should also be able to act as professional public servants that can serve the v public. The question can however be asked whether the curricula provided to undergraduate Public Administration students at South African universities comply with the needs of the public work force when considering the use of information technology competencies? vi KEY TERMS Competence Curricula Education e-government Facilitate Information technology Knowledge Public Administration Public service Skills Standards Teaching Undergraduate Universities Web 2.0 vii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION AND RESEARCH DESIGN 1 1.1 General introduction 1 1.2 Motivation of the research topic 3 1.3 Problem statement 4 1.4 Objective and aims of this research 5 1.5 Conceptual analysis 6 1.6 Other terminology associated with the research 11 1.7 Preliminary literature review 13 1.8 Research design and methodology 14 1.8.1 Research design 14 1.8.2 Units of observation 15 1.8.3 Research methods 15 1.9 Framework for this research project 16 CHAPTER 2 THE ROLE AND FUNCTION OF UNIVERSITIES AND HIGHER EDUCATION 18 2.1 Introduction 18 2.2 The philosophy of higher education 19 2.3 Origin and traditional role and function of universities 22 2.4 Changing role of universities and higher education 28 2.5 The university of the future 32 2.6 The information society 37 viii 2.6.1 The development of the information society 37 2.6.2 The concept: information society 39 2.6.3 The characteristics of the information society 40 2.7 Conclusion 41 CHAPTER 3 THE DEVELOPMENT AND RELEVANCE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION EDUCATION 43 3.1 Introduction 43 3.2 The development of Public Administration education 44 3.2.1 Paradigm 1: The politics/ administration dichotomy, 1900 – 1926 46 3.2.2 Paradigm 2: The principles of administration, 1927 – 1937 48 3.2.3 Paradigm 3: Public Administration and Political Science, 1938 – 1947 50 3.2.4 Paradigm 4: Public Administration as Management, 1956 – 1970 50 3.2.5 Paradigm 5: Public Administration as Public Administration, 1970 to date 51 3.3 The development of Public Administration education in South Africa 55 3.4 The relevance of Public Administration education in South Africa 62 3.4.1 Advantages of training and education in building human capacity 64 3.5. Requirements for Public Administration education in South Africa 65 3.5.1 The Higher Education Quality Committee 65 3.5.2 The South African Qualification Authority (SAQA) 66 3.6 International standards for Public Administration education 68 3.6.1 The International Association of Schools and Institutes of Administration (IASIA) 68 ix 3.6.2 The National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA) 71 3.7 Conclusion 73 CHAPTER 4 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN PUBLIC SERVICE 75 4.1 Introduction 75 4.2 Information technology use in South Africa 76 4.3 The benefits of using information technology in the public service 77 4.4 The use of information technology in the public service 82 4.4.1 Role of information technology in improving service delivery 82 4.4.2 Government actions confirming a sensitivity for the importance of information technology 85 4.5 Information technology skills required by public servants 92 4.6 Information technology skills in the private sector 98 4.7 The future of technology 101 4.8 Conclusion 106 CHAPTER 5 UNDERGRADUATE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION CURRICULA IN SOUTH AFRICA 108 5.1 Introduction 108 5.2 The higher education landscape of South Africa 109 5.3 Public Administration curricula at South African universities 114 5.3.1 Comprehensive universities 118 5.3.2 Universities 125 5.3.3 Universities of technology 133 x 5.4 Conclusion 139 CHAPTER 6 UNDERGRADUATE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION MODULES THAT INCLUDE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY 141 6.1 Introduction 141 6.2 Information technology in undergraduate Public Administration curricula 142 6.2.1 Public Information Service I 143 6.2.2 Public Information Practice II 150 6.2.3 Management of Information III 156 6.3 An evaluation of undergraduate Public Administration modules that include information technology against information technology skills required 163 6.4 Conclusion 174 CHAPTER 7 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 176 7.1 Introduction 176 7.2 Research summary 177 7.3 Final conclusion 185 7.4 Recommendations 187 LIST OF SOURCES 189 xi INDEX OF FIGURES Figure 5.1: Comprehensive Universities in South Africa 119 Figure 5.2: Universities in South Africa 126 Figure 5.3: Universities of Technology in South Africa 135 Figure 5.4: Percentage of information technology used in undergraduate Public Administration curricula in South Africa 139 INDEX OF TABLES Table 2.1: