Two months ago, the unthinkable happened in South African education. A university ejected 31 lecturers from campus who were unqualified for the job.

You heard right. This institution of higher learning actually took its job seriously (higher learning) and retrenched academics for low standards of scholastic achievement. That this happened in a university of technology, often stereotyped as the lesser academic cousin of the traditional universities, is all the more reason for applause. The Durban University of Technology (DUT) broke new ground in a country going the other way — they raised the standard...