This article reports on research on whether undergraduate Public Administration curricula at South African universities should provide for information and communication technology (ICT) competence and, if so, whether universities actually provide such competence. Both the context within which public servants work and their required vocational and professional characteristics have been shown to support the expectation that the learning of ICT competence be included in the undergraduate Public Administration curricula at South African universities. However, only those universities offering a National Diploma in Public Management include ICT competence as a separate module. The research findings confirm that ICT competence should indeed be included in undergraduate Public Administration curricula due to the need for contextual relevance, and the specific professional and vocational requirements of the public service. It is thus suggested that institutions of higher education, specifically in South Africa, assess their undergraduate Public Administration curricula by applying these curriculum requirements. Points for practitionersThe study on which this article is based addressed the relevance of Public Administration curricula to the information and communication technology (ICT) requirements of vocations and careers in the public service. The need for contextual relevance of curricula as well as meeting the professional and vocational requirements of public service receive specific attention.

The decolonialisation of the higher education curriculum and free higher education were two of the burning issues during student protests that erupted across universities in South Africa at the end of 2015. Although the president announced free higher education in December 2017, the country can scarcely afford it, with many universities already feeling financial constraints. The call for decolonialisation of the curriculum by students (which was viewed negatively by the public) refers specifically to books, theories and learning content that still predominantly reflect the thoughts of Western colonial powers. Students required a bigger focus on indigenous (African) knowledge to be incorporated into the South African curriculum. This, however, is the opposite of current international trends, where curricula are developed to meet international or even global standards that are set by international accreditation agencies in Public Administration, such as the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration and the International Commission on Accreditation of Public Administration Education and Training Programs. Therefore, this article investigates not only the direction the discipline of Public Administration is taking with regard to international standards and the curricula, but also to specifics of governance in developing countries. Are there reasonable arguments to support the demand for changes to the content of this discipline and is there a need to adjust curricula to concede to the wishes of the protesting students for the decolonising of science? This article found that international scholarly requirements, specific national conditions for governance and the demands uttered by students in the development of curricula at South African universities are at odds, particularly in the study of Public Administration.

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Dans le présent article, nous faisons le point sur les recherches menées sur la question de savoir si les programmes universitaires de premier cycle en administration publique en Afrique du Sud doivent prévoir des compétences en technologies de l’information et de la communication (TIC) et, dans l’affirmative, si les universités le font effectivement. Il s’avère que tant le contexte dans lequel les agents de l’État travaillent que les caractéristiques professionnelles attendues de leur part confirment l’idée que l’apprentissage des compétences en TIC doit être intégré dans les programmes d’études universitaires de premier cycle en administration publique en Afrique du Sud. Cependant, seules les universités qui délivrent un diplôme national en management public ont intégré les compétences en TIC dans le cadre d’un module distinct. Les observations de recherche confirment que les compétences en TIC doivent effectivement être intégrées dans les programmes d’études de premier cycle en administration publique compte tenu de la nécessaire pertinence contextuelle, ainsi que des exigences professionnelles propres à la fonction publique. Nous proposons dès lors que les établissements d’enseignement supérieur, particulièrement en Afrique du Sud, examinent leurs programmes d’études de premier cycle en administration publique en appliquant ces principes dans leurs programmes. Remarques à l’intention des praticiens L’étude sur laquelle se base notre article s’intéressait à la pertinence des programmes d’études en administration publique pour les compétences nécessaires en technologies de l’information et de la communication (TIC) dans les professions et les carrières dans la fonction publique. Elle portait plus particulièrement sur l’importance de la pertinence contextuelle des programmes d’études ainsi que sur la réponse aux besoins professionnels de la fonction publique.