Pretoria - The South African government has insisted that “well-off” families will have to cough up for the increased 2017 fees at institutions of higher learning, which it has recommended at an eight percent cap.
On Monday, Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande announced that tertiary education institutions across South Africa were now permitted to individually determine the level of their 2017 fees increase that their institutions require.
“There are many students from upper middle class and well-off families, as well as students on full company bursaries in our institutions who can afford to pay the adjusted 2017 fees, and we expect them to do so,” said Nzimande at a media briefing in Pretoria.
“It is very unclear to government why families who can afford private schools should, under the current circumstances, be receiving further state subsidies for their children at universities.”
Nzimande said that “to subsidise these students would require taking funding from the poor to support cheaper higher education for the wealthy, which is not justifiable in a context of inequality in our country”.
The minister emphasised that, currently, the authority for determining fee adjustments resided with the different university councils.
Nzimande said that even tertiary education institutions in South Africa were now permitted to individually determine their level of 2017 fees increase that their institutions required, but that government recommended that the fees increments should not go above eight percent.
“To ensure that such inflation-linked fees adjustments on the 2015 fees baseline are affordable to financially needy students, government is committed to finding the resources to support children of all poor, working and middle class families – those with a household income of up to R600,000 per annum – with subsidy funding to cover the gap between the 2015 fee and the adjusted 2017 fee at their institution,” said Nzimande.
He said this would be done for fee increments up to the eight percent.
“This will in effect mean that all NSFAS (National Student Financial Aid Scheme) qualifying students as well as the so-called ‘missing middle’ – that is students whose families earn above the NSFAS threshold but who are unable to support their children to access to higher education, will experience no fee increase in 2017. Government will pay for the fee adjustment.”
The minister said last month he had received recommendations from the Council on Higher Education (CHE) on university fees for 2017.
“I have studied these recommendations, consulted with university vice-chancellors and council chairs, various student organisations, organised labour, faith communities, political organisations and government. The issues at stake are complex, and there are differing opinions and arguments across the system,” said Nzimande.
“The CHE argued for a consumer price index (CPI) based fee adjustment for 2017, while many university leaders have made a strong case that an 8% agreement (CPI +2 percent) is essential. On the other hand, some students have called for a moratorium on all fee adjustments until the outcome of the Presidential Commission is announced, whilst others are supporting government’s measures to assist students from poor, working and middle class families, which includes the ‘missing middle’.”
South African universities are facing serious viability challenges owing to financial limitation after government introduced the zero fee increment policy at tertiary institutions for 2016.
Last year a number of university campuses were shut down after the #FeesMustFall campaign gained momentum and even saw students storm Parliament and the Union Buildings. This led President Jacob Zuma to announce a zero percent fee hike for the 2016 academic year.
African News Agency