Cape Town - The tough work of selling an inflation-related 6 percent fee hike cap to students demonstrating for no increases started On Wednesday at various universities, after an agreement between the higher education minister, university vice-chancellors and student representatives.
This proposed 6 percent increase limit is less than the over 10 percent hike initially announced – the spark for the #FeesMustFall at several universities countrywide – but falls way short of the zero percent increase demanded by students, who are set to back up their call by shutting down tertiary education for the day.
After Tuesday’s more than four-hour-long meeting in Cape Town, High Education Minister Blade Nzimande and Universities South Africa, the organisation representing vice-chancellors, touted the agreement as a “collective” stance to create “an enabling environment” for individual institutions to hold their tuition fee negotiations for next year.
This while a task team would report back within six months on a long-term sustainable fee increase framework from 2017 onwards.
However, Nzimande confirmed that “a final decision is still left to the institutions”.
The possibility of other issues, including the upfront registration fees, which range from around R7 800 at the University of Stellenbosch, about R10 000 at Wits University to some R24 000 at the University of Cape Town, may also be put on the table once negotiations start.
While agreeing that the proposed fee increase cap presented a workable starting point, South African Union of Students deputy president Tebogo Thothela emphasised it had to be taken back to the universities for further discussion and negotiations.
“We don’t decide. This forum does not have the power to decide,” Thothela told The Star afterwards, adding that he had been in touch with Student Representative Councils, which the union represents, throughout the meeting.
Earlier, Thothela said the students’ demand for free tertiary education still stood. “The vice-chancellors must still go back… That’s where the discussions really lie.”
The vice-chancellors of Wits and Rhodes universities said the process of discussions would start on Wednesday. Wits vice-chancellor Professor Adam Habib said the first step would be to brief council, brief students and get everyone to come to the negotiation table. “Hard questions and decisions lie ahead.”
Rhodes vice-chancellor Dr Sizwe Mabizela said: “I hope the students will see the wisdom of what has been proposed.”
Political Bureau
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