Rethinking IS Curricula for South Africa

Abstract

What to teach students in an undergraduate program in Information Systems at a tertiary institution has repeatedly been debated over the years. Various curricula have been published, the most recent effort being the IS '95 Curriculum currently being discussed. Very often such curricula, or at least the particular implementation at a particular institution, is the product of the idiosyncratic preferences of (certain) academics. While it is recognized that academics have a duty to maintain a longer term view and would therefore often have 'academic reasons' for including certain material or approaches in a curriculum, it is indefensible that an IS curriculum should be developed an deployed without a considerable input from the eventual employers of IS graduates. This can also not be a once-off exercise, but must, in view of the ever changing requirements of the information systems environment, be part of a learning process in which the institution improves its teaching program. This paper presents an analysis of the skills required by businesses in South Africa from entry-level programmers, systems analysts and end-user support personnel and discusses the implications these needs have for an academic IS Department.