Summary

The 30^th of September was an important day in the Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC) calendar because the student's quality literacy project was launched. The launch took the form of a consultative meeting with deans of students, quality assurance managers, national student representative councils, student development practitioners and National Association of Distance Education Organisation of South Africa (NADEOSA). The project is aimed at raising student's awareness on the importance of the quality assurance processes in higher education, providing them with necessary knowledge, skills and tools to assess the quality of education provided and to empower them to play an active role in the quality improvement and academic decision making structures. The deans of students, quality assurance managers and national student organizations presented various institutional initiatives and programmes to inform and involve students in quality assurance structures. In order to achieve the main aim of the project, the HEQC will work with institutions to improve the current initiatives and to introduce these in institutions where they do not exist. Participants expressed their overall support for the project and felt that it was going to play a major role in transforming South African higher education.