Reflection on the Structural Development of Engineering Programmes in South African Higher Education Institutions: Pre- and Post-1994

Almost all the literature related to engineering education tends to overlook the pre-1994 events and how they may have impacted the current curriculum of the engineering discipline in the South African context. The pre- and post-apartheid engineering curriculum evaluation has been a challenge because of weak episodical and often self-centred discussions related to the matter. There are difficulties in determining the ideological underpinnings of the engineering discipline in South Africa. Therefore, this chapter revisits some events that led to the gradual development of the engineering curriculum in South African higher education pre-1994 and how they shaped the present curriculum since the dawn of democracy. This chapter is based on a comprehensive literature review which traces and reflects on the evolution, role, and structure of the engineering discipline in South Africa pre- and post-1994. The chapter demonstrates through sound arguments that events outside the demarcations of higher education institutions, such as the socio-political and socio-economic events in South Africa, have principally determined curriculum development and changes in the engineering discipline. The chapter also outlines the engineering discipline’s past, present, and future opportunities.