Two Australian universities last week signed co-operative agreements with a South African tertiary institution in what is being hailed as the beginning of a new stage in relations between the two countries' higher education systems.

The universities of South Australia and Adelaide forged the agreements with South Africa's Fort Hare University in the eastern Cape province.

A delegation from Fort Hare, headed by its vice chancellor, Mbulelo Mzamane, was in Adelaide for ten days to conclude negotiations over the agreements. The University of South Australia will help establish an Institute of Education, Reconstruction and Development at Fort Hare that is intended to provide training and retraining for under-educated black teachers in the province.

An estimated 60 per cent of black teachers in the Cape leave school with the equivalent of year 10 and then go into teaching, often with no formal training. Distance education is planned to be used to upgrade their skills.

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The University of Adelaide and Fort Hare will work together on a range of research projects, including those involving dryland farming. Staff and student exchanges, along with professional development and skills-enhancement, are also expected to be part of the programme.

The agreements follow a visit to South Africa last year by a team from the Australian Vice Chancellors' Committee which was intended to realign South Africa's universities away from Britain and America and towards Australia.

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Gavin Brown, vice chancellor of the University of Adelaide, said the complementary agreements opened up the likelihood of a three-way collaboration between the two Australian universities and Fort Hare. He said this could serve as a bridge for establishing relationships with other tertiary institutions in South Africa.

Fort Hare was founded by the Church of Scotland in 1906 and now counts at least six presidents of African nations among its graduates. Under the former apartheid regime its role was restricted to that of a university for the so-called independent Ciskei homeland.