Wits mourns the loss of Professor Peliwe Lolwana
- Wits University
Wits is saddened by the loss of Professor Lolwana, who recently retired as the Director of the Centre for Researching Education and Labour (REAL).
She continued to serve as a visiting Associate Professor in the Wits School of Education.
She led the Centre, renowned for its cutting edge research, its teaching programmes and its support to policy makers and regulatory institutions in areas of theoretical, practical, and policy concern focused on the complex relationships between education, knowledge, work, the economy, and society with an aim to promote social, economic and ecological sustainability and a more just society.
She advanced the importance of thinking the politics, practices, and policies of the post school sector, including reimagining skills and economic development for a just future, knowledge and pedagogy for meaningful and decent work, and understanding and strengthening post-school institutions.
Lolwana chaired the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations in addition to chairing and serving on a number of other associations, boards, foundations and councils in education and training in South Africa.
She has written and published in the areas of assessment, quality assurance, adult education, vocational education, skills development and post-school education.
Professor Lolwana will be remembered for her commitment to bridging the gap between higher education and the world of work, for her forthrightness and ability to speak truth to power, and for her commitment to research in education and labour. May she rest in peace.