Staff Reporter

South African teenagers, often overlooked in development planning despite making up more than 17% of the country’s population, are the focus of a new free guide aimed at helping adults support them through adolescence.

Hold My Hand, a national child and teen advocacy campaign, has published Supporting Teen Identity Development: A Guide for Adults, a plain-language resource for parents, caregivers, teachers and mentors to better understand what teenagers are experiencing and how to support them.

The guide covers adolescent development, including brain development, peer pressure, mental health and social media. It also includes practical tools and conversation prompts adults can use immediately.

Hold My Hand said adolescence was “one of the most important windows of opportunity” in a young person’s life, when teenagers build identity, resilience, connectedness and purpose — or fall into risk.

The organisation said teenagers in South Africa were navigating the transition to adulthood while also facing poverty, violence, social media pressure, HIV, school dropout, gangsterism and limited future opportunities.

“In these conditions, a strong sense of identity is not a nice-to-have, it is what keeps teens grounded,” it said.

Teenagers who feel seen, supported and connected are more likely to develop positive identities, make safer choices, stay in school and build towards positive futures.

“Hold My Hand created the guide to give adults the tools to show up for the teenagers in their lives. Teens don’t need the adults in their lives to have all the answers – they just need adults to be present, willing to listen and learn,” said Shirely Eadie, Lead Teen Identity at Hold My Hand.

The guide supports one of the 10 priorities of the National Strategy to Accelerate Action for Children, a Presidency-led initiative calling on government, civil society, the private sector and families to mobilise around South Africa’s children and teenagers.

Hold My Hand said building teenagers’ sense of identity, agency and connectedness was central to the strategy.

The guide is available for free download at Hold My Hand’s website and can be read in sections as teenagers grow and change.

The organisation will also host a webinar, “The Power to Be(come): why adolescent identity matters in South Africa”, on Wednesday, June 24 at 3pm on Zoom. The discussion will draw on new Human Sciences Research Council insights and explore what builds purpose, belonging and agency in teenagers, and what undermines them.

Speakers include Dr Rose September of DGMT, Dr Alude Mahali of the HSRC, Dr Shahieda Jansen of Awehmagents and Thando Nkosi of Hold My Hand. The session will be facilitated by Dr Katlego Selikane of Keready.

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By Levy Masiteng 

A landmark global report has warned that the world’s biodiversity crisis may be far more severe than previously understood, with nearly 30,000 plant species and more than 400 fungal species now threatened with extinction — while thousands more may disappear before they are even known to science.

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew’s State of the World’s Plants and Fungi 2026 report, released on Tuesday, includes the expertise of University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) Professor Benny Bytebier, curator of the Bews Herbarium in Pietermaritzburg, which holds more than 250,000 plant specimens.

The report, compiled with input from more than 400 scientists across 40 countries, found that 29,748 plant species and 411 fungal species are currently threatened with extinction, despite only 18% of known plant species and just 0.6% of fungi having been assessed.

It warns that the world still does not fully understand the scale of the crisis facing plants and fungi, which underpin life on Earth by regulating climate, storing carbon and providing food and medicines.

Without reliable data on what species exist, where they occur and how they are being affected by climate change, the report says conservation efforts may overlook the most vulnerable species, while opportunities for new medicines and sustainable future crops may be lost.

The report says rapid advances in artificial intelligence, digitisation and global data-sharing are transforming conservation by allowing researchers to analyse preserved plant and fungal specimens at unprecedented scale.

For centuries, pressed, dried and labelled plants and fungi collected by scientists around the world have been inaccessible to most researchers. Digitisation is now allowing scientists to compare material remotely, correct misidentified species and uncover previously hidden biodiversity.

But major gaps remain. Fewer than 16% of the world’s herbarium specimens have been imaged and made digitally available, leaving significant blind spots in global biodiversity knowledge.

The report says these gaps are especially pronounced in parts of the Global South, where little-known and under-digitised “silent herbaria” can skew global biodiversity models and climate predictions, leading to conservation decisions based on incomplete or biased information.

This makes the work being done at Bews Herbarium significant. According to the statement, all 250,000 specimens at the herbarium have been imaged, while 25% of their labels have been transcribed and added to a database to make them more accessible to researchers worldwide.

The Bews Herbarium, which is more than a century old, has grown from about 120,000 specimens 15 years ago to more than 250,000 today after incorporating several “orphaned” herbaria from KwaZulu-Natal.

Bytebier has also worked with colleagues from the South African National Biodiversity Institute, Mauritius, Madagascar and Belgium on research into the digitisation of herbarium specimens from an African perspective, with a focus on South Africa and Western Indian Ocean island states.

He said the report was important because it showed how the world was documenting and conserving plant and fungal life.

“This report is very important as it summarises how we are doing with describing, documenting and conserving our plants and fungi at a global scale. I’m happy that the Global North takes notice of our efforts in digitising the rich biodiversity in the Global South, despite the challenges and lack of resources,” Bytebier said.

The report says more than 100,000 plant species and more than two million fungal species remain unknown to science. It also found that more than 4,600 plant species and 7,800 fungal species were named as new to science in 2024 and 2025.

It concludes that improving, connecting and sharing biodiversity data globally is one of the fastest and most cost-effective ways to strengthen conservation and enable faster action to prevent extinctions.

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By Lebone Rodah Mosima

President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Tuesday that youth unemployment had become South Africa’s defining post-apartheid challenge, as the country marked 50 years since the 1976 Soweto uprising.

Speaking at the national Youth Day commemoration at the FNB Stadium precinct in Johannesburg, Ramaphosa said South Africa had made significant gains since apartheid, including expanded access to education, higher education funding and public employment programmes.

But he said the central challenge was whether those gains were translating into jobs, skills and dignity for young people.

“The question before us today is not whether young people have the courage to change South Africa. The youth of 1976 answered that question,” Ramaphosa said. “The question before us is whether South Africa is doing enough to create opportunities worthy of their sacrifice.”

Youth Day marks the anniversary of June 16, 1976, when schoolchildren in Soweto marched against apartheid education and the imposition of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction. Police opened fire on protesters, turning the uprising into one of the defining moments of resistance to white minority rule.

Ramaphosa said the youth of 1976 had fought exclusion from education, while today’s generation faced joblessness, poverty and inequality.

“Theirs was the struggle to enter the classroom. Ours is the struggle to ensure that what begins in the classroom does not end in the unemployment queue.”

Ramaphosa said more than 4.7 million young South Africans were unemployed and that the youth unemployment rate stood at 46 percent.

“Behind every statistic is a young person who wants to work, wants to contribute and wants to build a future,” he said. “We cannot accept this as normal.”

He said young people were also among those most affected by violent crime and theft, describing unemployment and insecurity as threats to South Africa’s prosperity and social stability.

In a speech delivered amid rising public anger over crime, unemployment, poor service delivery and illegal immigration, Ramaphosa warned against blaming foreign nationals for South Africa’s domestic problems.

“Even as we recognise the challenge of illegal immigration – which we are taking decisive action to address – our problems are our own. And which we have a responsibility to fix ourselves,” he said.

He said frustrations in communities were real, but that the roots of the crisis lay elsewhere.

“The roots of these challenges lie primarily in inequality, slow economic growth and weaknesses in service delivery,” Ramaphosa said. “Addressing these challenges requires practical solutions, not the scapegoating of vulnerable people.”

Ramaphosa said government was responding on three fronts: expanding public employment, youth service and workplace experience; reshaping the skills system so qualifications led more directly to work; and opening the productive economy to young people.

He said more than 5.7 million young people were registered on the SA Youth.mobi platform, with more than 2 million gaining access to earning opportunities. He said the Presidential Employment Stimulus had created work and livelihood opportunities for more than 2.5 million unemployed South Africans, of whom 82 percent were young people and 66 percent were women.

He also said the revitalised National Youth Service had placed more than 130,000 young people in paid service opportunities, with an additional 100,000 community service youth employment opportunities currently available.

Ramaphosa said the state would invest R1 trillion in infrastructure over the next three years, including roads, dams, schools, hospitals, clinics, electricity lines, railways and ports.

“This investment will create apprenticeships, artisan development, skills transfer and enterprise development for young people,” he said.

He called on employers to hire young people without demanding experience they had never had the chance to gain.

“The young person in front of you does not lack ability. They lack only the chance to prove it,” Ramaphosa said. “Hire for potential, not only for experience.”

Ramaphosa said government would strengthen support through the Employment Tax Incentive, saying the first job was “the hardest to get and the most important a person ever has.”

He also urged young people to register and vote in the 4 November local government elections, saying they should be central to fixing municipalities, not only as councillors but as “engineers, planners, artisans, water technicians, electricians, data specialists and entrepreneurs”.

He said the best way to honour the generation of 1976 was not through remembrance alone, but through building a country where young people could learn, work, serve, build, create and own.

“Let us honour them not in words alone, but in deeds,” he said. “Where opportunity is not the privilege of a few, but the birthright of all.”

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By Kobus Maree

Thirty-two years after South Africa became a democratic state, the futures of millions of young people in the country are shaped to a large degree by uncertainty, exclusion, poverty and discouragement. As one lens on this scene, unemployment in the age group 15-34 borders on 46%.

I am an educational psychologist who has done 35 years of research on the career-life stories of young people growing up in contexts marked by extreme poverty, exclusion, inequality and disadvantage. These hardships shape their career development and views of the ever-changing world of work.

I have encountered many young people who have bottled up and eventually internalised repeated experiences of disenchantment, rejection and “failure”. Some have dropped out of education, lacking support. Others have completed their schooling only to learn that marks and qualifications alone could not open doors to successful futures. In many instances, in their environments, unemployment and unemployability have become normalised.

Yet many show resilience, adaptability and determination to find work and to construct meaningful lives.

In a recent journal article, I described an intervention which involved career counselling for a group of 51 disadvantaged black South Africans, aged around 27. They had experienced poverty, unemployment, social exclusion, and limited access to educational and occupational opportunities. I wanted to assess whether counselling could help them use their resilience as a resource. Could it improve their adaptability? And if so, how?

The results showed positive change for most participants following the programme, though the outcomes were uneven.

Structural barriers to finding work remained formidable. Nevertheless many participants developed a stronger sense of agency, hope, adaptability and future orientation. The intervention appeared to help them tell their career-life stories in new ways, with purpose, self-understanding and a shift towards taking action.

These findings underscore the importance of a counselling approach that helps young people recognise and mobilise their strengths, and convert their most significant developmental challenges into assets that benefit both themselves and their communities.

The intervention

In September 2020, the group of young, unemployed, rural South Africans took part in structured career conversations and reflections guided by researchers and career development practitioners. In a workshop and group discussions, we recorded their career interests, strengths and areas for development. They also thought about how their future careers could transform their early life challenges into something positive and empowering.

They explored fields of study aligned with their individual profiles and aspirations that could help them experience meaning, fulfil a sense of purpose and contribute existential value to their career-lives. To this end, they conducted in-depth analyses of occupations associated with their selected fields.

Participants then received guidance on managing emotions, stress and study techniques.

The aim was to elicit themes about their conscious knowledge about themselves and their subconscious insights.

A recurring theme in their reflections was personal development and motivation. Inspiration to work hard, and overcoming adversity, were part of this theme.

They showed a growing awareness of the attitudes, beliefs and competencies necessary to achieve their career-life goals. Their awareness of the need to be adaptable increased. So did their understanding of employment and economic growth realities. They reported increased confidence in defining and achieving their career and life goals. They developed greater clarity about the meaning they wished to find in their work, the contribution they hoped to make to others through their work, and the deeper existential purpose that gives direction to both their work and their lives.

Career adaptability

The intervention used a method called Career Construction Counselling. This is essentially a way to help people come up with their own advice instead of being told what to do. Through reflecting on their own stories, they think of what steps they can take towards their future working life.

This approach is consistent with findings from our career construction and narrative career counselling research. This suggests that reflecting on and reconstructing personal life stories can enhance self-understanding, agency, career adaptability and future planning. Studies have shown that people who actively engage with their own narratives are often better able to identify meaningful career directions, clarify their self- and career identity, identify appropriate study fields, articulate their mission and vision, and develop strategies for navigating future transitions.

The approach emphasises adaptability, which has four elements:

• concern (do I have a future?)
• control (who is responsible for my future?)
• curiosity (what do I want to achieve in my future?)
• confidence (can I succeed?).

A year after the intervention, the participants reported back.

Their scores for career adaptability had improved somewhat. The area of strongest improvement was their career confidence.

I concluded that narrative-based career construction counselling can strengthen career clarity, adaptability, and self-directed action among severely disadvantaged unemployed youth.

However, lasting change also requires systemic intervention. Not only is career counselling scarce in South African schools; traditional approaches are often culturally mismatched and fail to empower disadvantaged youth.

Resilience

I’ve noticed that people often speak of resilience as if it’s an end point in itself.

I believe resilience may be understood not as the culmination of coping but as a preparatory phase in the movement from passive endurance towards what the psychologist Mark Savickas calls active authorship (“active mastery”). My belief draws on life design (people actively shaping their careers and lives by constructing meaning, adapting to change, and aligning work with personal values and identity) and career construction perspectives.

From this perspective, the crucial shift lies in supporting young people to move beyond “withstanding” adversity towards re-authoring their experiences.

Kobus Maree is Professor of Educational Psychology, University of Pretoria. This article was first published by The Conversation.

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Staff Reporter

South Africa’s commemoration of Youth Day should force the country’s universities to confront how little higher education has changed since the 1976 Soweto uprising, a University of Cape Town academic has said.

The country will on Tuesday mark 50 years since the June 16, 1976 student protests, when young people took to the streets against apartheid education policies, including the enforced use of Afrikaans in schools.

The protests were met with violence in Soweto, Johannesburg, and became a defining moment in South Africa’s struggle against apartheid.

Emeritus Professor Alan Cliff, from UCT’s Centre for Higher Education Development, said the anniversary should not only be a moment of remembrance, but also one of reflection on access, representation and transformation in higher education.

“16 June 1976 was a watershed moment in South African politics and life. I was a first-year student at Rhodes University, and we were crowded around the radio listening to news releases from the protests in Soweto. Television had only just launched in this country and coverage was minimal and highly selective,” he said.

“We had to imagine/create from audio coverage what is now taken as routine in video reporting. I remember a huge range of emotions and opinions among my fellow students at the time – from left and right of the political spectrum.

“But I also remember thinking that this was a moment of critique: finally, issues of white hegemony and the right to learn in Mother Tongue and the language of learning and teaching had been the fulcrum around which protests had erupted. School children had taken up the cause – and the iconic, deeply human image of Hector Pieterson being carried from the protests remains imprinted forever.”

Cliff, whose career has spanned decades of work on literacy testing and higher education readiness, said universities had to be honest about the slow pace of change in the sector.

“We have to challenge ourselves to be honest about how relatively unchanged higher education has remained. Global North knowledge systems remain hegemonic and valorised. We have to think about which students and staff are able to see themselves represented in higher education? What systems signals does the sector emit that make it easier or tougher for students to participate/feel represented – this was at least part of the reason for the more recent student protests represented by #RhodesMustFall, for example,” he said.

He said institutions needed to rethink who was taught, how students were taught, and what it meant for students and universities to be “literate”.

As someone focused on access, redress and success in higher education, Cliff said progress had been made in widening access, but deeper questions remained about whether institutions had adapted sufficiently to changing student cohorts.

“The most satisfying part of our journey has been seeing the extent to which higher education access for all students to all institutions has indeed widened. The work on literacies assessment has been deeply satisfying especially in terms of its relationship to academic development and programme provision,” he said.

“It has also been meaningful to work on troubling the notion that literacies development is only about the identification of student support needs, to a much more holistic understanding of literacies work being about curriculum, teaching and learning, and assessment and the responsiveness of higher education institutions to changing student cohorts.”

Cliff said the concept of literacy should extend beyond language, reading and writing, and should include the ways students learn, participate and succeed within institutions shaped by inequality.

“We need to think about what it takes for a student to be higher education ‘ready’ and what it takes for higher education to be ‘ready’ to teach that student,” he said.

“As emeritus, I am in a reflective mode these days: looking back on 30 years of conceptualising notions of literacies and on the work of developing assessments of these. I am working on using social and critical realist lenses to assess the impact of the work through its history; its purposes; how and why it has been perceived and received in particular ways as a function of educational histories and decades (at least) of segregation, inequality and how these legacies remain powerfully difficult to redress.”

He said higher education must rethink its own assumptions about literacy, student potential and institutional readiness.

“How we think about learning potential and ability to be successful has to take account of educational background, educational inequality, how students can learn to be literate in the broadest (socially situated) sense; how higher education itself needs to re-think and critique its own view of literacy and its responsiveness to student diversity and knowledge forms. We need to think about what it takes for a student to be higher education ‘ready’ and what it takes for higher education to be ‘ready’ to teach that student,” Cliff said.

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By Johnathan Paoli

Kingswood College’s first-team rugby side produced an all-round performance to defeat St Andrew’s College 29-10 in the highly anticipated K-Day derby, securing local bragging rights in one of South Africa’s most celebrated school sporting rivalries.

Playing on St Andrew’s Lower Field in Makhanda, Eastern Cape, on Saturday, heavy rain and a waterlogged surface shaped much of the day’s rugby, forcing teams to abandon expansive play and adapt to difficult conditions.

Kingswood seized control early in the match, scoring three unanswered tries in the opening 20 minutes.

The hosts mounted a spirited second-half comeback with two tries, but Kingswood’s composure and effective game management ensured they held on for victory.

On social media, Kingswood praised the efforts of its players and coaching staff.

“Congratulations to the Kingswood 1st XV and coaches on their KDAY victory against St Andrew’s College on Saturday. The boys played with immense heart to bring home the win 29-10. Thank you to our hosts St Andrew’s College for a great game,” the school posted.

The annual K-Day festival, which this year featured cultural and sporting competitions involving Kingswood College, St Andrew’s College, St Andrew’s Prep and DSG, is one of the highlights of the Eastern Cape schools calendar.

This year’s rugby programme also included fixtures involving Mzansi Rugby Academy and Isibane Selane Rugby Academy, adding to a packed day of schoolboy rugby in Makhanda.

Thousands of pupils, parents, old boys and supporters traditionally converge on the host venue, with the first-team rugby encounter serving as the main attraction.

Saturday’s result represented a significant turnaround from the previous edition of the derby and underlined Kingswood’s growing momentum during the latter stages of the 2026 season.

Coming into the fixture, Kingswood had shown encouraging form with convincing victories over Port Rex Technical High School, Brandwag High School and Westering High School.

St Andrew’s entered K-Day after a narrow 24-21 defeat to Selborne College and faced an uphill battle against a Kingswood outfit that had demonstrated an ability to punish opponents when given space.

St Andrew’s looked to fullback Will Stevens, flyhalf David Chorley and scrumhalf Ethan Hayes to guide the side, while James Badenhorst returned to the No 8 jersey in an effort to strengthen the forward effort.

Kingswood, meanwhile, relied on the leadership of captain Ross Thompson and the contributions of several experienced campaigners, including twins James and Josh Mackenzie, as they sought to secure victory.

The visitors ultimately rose to the occasion, producing a disciplined and energetic display that prevented St Andrew’s from building sustained momentum.

While the home side managed to cross for two second-half tries, they struggled to consistently break down the Kingswood defence or gain control of territory for extended periods.

Kingswood’s 29-point return reflected their ability to convert opportunities into scoreboard pressure, a factor that proved decisive as the match progressed.

The result will be especially satisfying for Kingswood after the disappointment of last year’s encounter, when victory slipped away in the closing moments.

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By Cyril Ramaphosa

To the Young People of South Africa,  
On the eve of Youth Day, we honour a generation of young South Africans who changed the course of our history.

Fifty years ago, the youth of 1976 stood up against injustice and demanded the right to learn, to dream and to determine their own future. Their courage helped open the doors of freedom. The responsibility of our generation is to ensure that those doors lead to opportunity.  
 
The youth of South Africa rose up to reject an education system that sought to keep them in servitude and deny them the opportunity to realise their potential. Exactly 50 years later, as young South Africans, you face a different challenge: finding your place in an economy that has for too long kept its doors closed to you.  
 
We know that for many young South Africans, the promise of democracy can feel distant when jobs are scarce, when opportunities seem out of reach and when qualifications do not always lead to employment.

Many of you are working hard, applying for jobs, pursuing training and seeking opportunities, only to face disappointment. We hear these frustrations, and we understand that they are real. 
 
Inclusive economic growth is essential if we are to tackle youth unemployment in a meaningful and lasting way. That is why we are investing in a massive infrastructure programme and undertaking far-reaching reforms to make our economy more competitive.

We have embarked on a second ambitious investment drive, raising R890 billion in new investment pledges in the last year. 
 
However, these efforts will take time to translate into jobs. And even as the economy grows, young people may still find it difficult to participate in that growth. 
 
That is why we have been investing in programmes that give you access to learning and work opportunities, skills, experience and an income. 
 
One of our most successful programmes has been the Presidential Employment Stimulus, which was launched at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Today, that stimulus has created in excess of 2.5 million work and livelihood opportunities. More than eight in ten of these opportunities have gone to young people, and two-thirds to women. It has enabled the most rapid expansion of public employment in our history. 
 
While these numbers are impressive, what really makes this initiative stand out is the impact that it has on the prospects of those involved and the contribution it makes to the areas in which they work. 
 
Last year, through the Basic Education Employment Initiative, 200,000 unemployed young people provided valuable support to nearly 22,000 schools in remote villages, townships, dense inner cities, special needs classrooms and farm schools.

The programme is giving young people their first foothold in the world of work while strengthening the foundations of learning in the schools that need it most. 
 
The Social Employment Fund, another successful programme, offers part-time work for young people in social development programmes in areas like education, food and agriculture, health care, environmental improvement and safety.

Because it is part-time, participants get regular and predictable income while spending the rest of their time looking for work, exploring business opportunities or improving their skills. 
 
Alongside these public and social employment programmes, the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention is steadily dismantling the barriers that keep young people locked out of the labour market.

Through the SA Youth online platform, more than 5.7 million young people are now able to search for opportunities, overcoming some of the impediments that often hold them back, such as transport and data expenses. To date, the intervention has facilitated access to over 2.3 million earning opportunities. 
 
The revitalised National Youth Service has placed more than 132,000 young people in paid service to their communities. These are young people learning the dignity of work while giving back to the society that raised them. 
 
The Youth Employment Service, which is a business initiative, places young people in quality year-long work experience opportunities in companies across the country.  
 
We are also pioneering smarter ways of spending training funds. The Jobs Boost Outcomes Fund pays for training for young people only when they are placed in a real, quality job. It is a model that demands results.  
 
Behind every one of these numbers is a young person whose dignity has been restored, whose confidence has been renewed and whose horizon has broadened.

Although these opportunities are mostly short-term, there are thousands of stories of young people who have used them as a stepping stone towards finding a permanent job, starting a small business or studying towards a new career. 
 
The value of these opportunities can be measured not merely by what young people earn while they’re in the programme, but by what they leave with: skills, experience, self-esteem and a sense of purpose. 
 
Much work remains. The scale of the challenge demands that we sustain and deepen these efforts. Every company, every department, every organisation and every South African who is able to open a door for a young person must do so.  
 
Your country sees your potential and will work with you to ensure that you realise it.  
 
Let us together build a South Africa in which every young person finds their place in an inclusive economy and in a thriving society. 

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Nadia Landman

Students arrive in higher education with mindsets and habits shaped by the digital platforms they use every day.

Netflix, Spotify and Uber have normalised daily life experiences that feel simple, personalised, immediate and intuitive, and this has raised students’ expectations for seamless, user-centric experiences in other areas.

Higher education should not try to become on-demand entertainment. But it can certainly learn from the discipline behind these platforms. Students may not expect learning to be easy. Still, they increasingly expect the academic journey to be clear, connected and well supported.

A great student experience does not make higher education less rigorous. But it does make the path through that rigour clearer, more visible and better supported — an ideal all higher education institutions should be aiming for.

The simplicity of our ubiquitous modern-day platforms is often misunderstood.

Their ease of use is not accidental. It is the result of thoughtful design, continuous testing, data-informed improvement and rigorous quality assurance. Every recommendation, notification, search function and progress indicator is designed to reduce uncertainty and help users take the next step with confidence.

The role of data and AI in higher education

Netflix and Spotify show how personalisation and curation can make complex content feel manageable. Behind the scenes, data, machine learning and artificial intelligence help these platforms understand patterns, recommend content and create a sense of relevance.

In higher education, the purpose is different. The goal is not to keep students scrolling. The goal is to help them stay engaged, supported and on track. Used responsibly, data and AI can help institutions identify when students may need support, improve communication and guide learners to the right resources at the right time.

This is where the learning Management System (LMS) becomes critical.

Too often, the LMS becomes a digital filing cabinet filled with documents, announcements and links. A thoughtfully designed LMS should do more than store content. It should guide students through the module, showing them what they are learning, why it matters, what they need to do, when assessments are due and where feedback fits into their progress.

It should therefore be a carefully designed learning environment that helps students understand what to do, why it matters and how each step connects to their progress.

Visibility builds trust

Uber shows how visibility reduces uncertainty: users can track their driver, journey time, and expectations. Higher education should do likewise.

Students shouldn’t hunt for registration, fees, rules, assessment dates, feedback timelines, support services or escalation routes. The clearer the journey, the less confusion and anxiety. In higher education, visible registration status, accreditation, academic rules and support pathways signal trust and boost confidence in the institution and the learning journey.

Why this matters in Higher Education

Trust must be earned continuously. Students and parents need assurance that an institution is legitimate, that qualifications are recognised, and that the learning experience is well governed.

Visible, accurate and easy-to-understand signals — including accreditation, registration status, qualification details, academic rules and student support — do more than meet compliance. They form part of the student experience and demonstrate active quality management.

Student experience is quality assurance in action

Student experience is integral to academic quality and outcomes, and it shows in programme design, LMS structure, assessment communication, feedback and support.

The lesson from our most-used apps is that simple-feeling experiences rely on careful design, robust systems and continuous improvement. This matters for today’s students and especially for Generation Alpha, who expect intuitive, responsive, and personalised digital journeys.

The best institutions will not design only for the students they serve today. They will also pay close attention to the behaviours, expectations and support needs of the students who are coming next. Institutions that make quality visible and trust easy to earn will better navigate academic journeys and demonstrate mature governance.

Nadia Landman is Head: Academic Quality Management Systems at The IIE Academic Centre of Excellence.

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