Johannesburg -
The protest action by Wits University students last week over the shortfall in National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) funding has reignited the debate over inadequate state funding in the higher education sector.
The wrangle between the university and NSFAS has left 828 students in the lurch, in debt and unable to continue with their studies because they owe 2014 fees accumulated after they enrolled, thinking that the costs would be covered by NSFAS.
When the students returned to campus this year, they were told they’d have to sign an acknowledgement of debt legally binding them to cough up last year’s fees.
The students also had to pay a R9 300 registration fee upfront for their registration to be processed.
The university said NSFAS students could pay half of this fee, but for many who applied for financial aid precisely because they’re poor, even half the registration fee is unaffordable.
The university accepted more NSFAS students last year than there was funding available for, based on a precedent set in the previous years where universities were told by NSFAS they could take on more students and additional money would be allocated later.
Wits took on 828 more students last year at a cost of R43.5 million, but was later told by NSFAS that there was no money available.
NSFAS said its guidelines were clear - it only pays fees for students who have been accepted for funding and are in the system.
The ball’s in Wits’s court to clear the students’ debt.
This is the dilemma from the opposing sides.
Wits Student Representative Council president Ncebo Dlamini said: “We as students are caught in the middle. The university is saying it’s NSFAS, NSFAS is saying it’s the university.
“Those who are rich are going to class, while those who are poor are left - they’re in the periphery, they don’t know whether they have a future in this prestigious university.
“Wits took more than what was allocated to it in 2014 - it acknowledges that.”
Now NSFAS was failing to settle the crisis, said Dlamini.
“Come this year, students who are on NSFAS still have the debt of 2014. The university is saying students must sign an acknowledgement of debt that they owe the university, when it’s the university that entered into a contract with NSFAS.
“The university is saying to the poor, to the vulnerable, bind yourself. Sign an acknowledgement of debt that you will pay.
“What money will you pay with? The fact that you are on NSFAS is because you are poor.
“Now, after proving that you are poor, the university then says go home… that’s what is happening now.
“You have proven that you are poor and the university is saying pay an upfront fee. With what money?
“These are poor, black students who have struggled for the opportunity to be here at Wits.
“They’ve struggled their whole lives. Some of them have survived on social grants, some of them have survived selling on the streets just to have access to education.
“Let me tell you, Wits accepts the cream of the country, only the cream comes to this university.
“It takes the best of the best, but it is saying to the best of the best, take your seven distinctions and go away.
“It is just giving them a taste of being at Wits because it accepts them and says if only you were rich, you were going to have access to this thing, but because you are poor, go away.”
Wits vice-chancellor Professor Adam Habib responded: “Do we have a problem with the financing of higher education in this country?
“Yes, we do. There is no question that the South African government has dramatically increased the allocation to NSFAS, but the demand far outstrips the amount of money available to students. We’re seeing this and we’re confronted with this problem.
“Do I sympathise with the students struggling to finance higher education?
“Absolutely. I think this is a real tragedy.
“We need a serious conversation in our society about how we finance higher education and how we do so in a way that doesn’t make higher education simply for the rich.”
There was an unfortunate tendency where political parties and politicians jumped on what was a needed conversation and opportunistically tried to score cheap political points, he said.
“The president said, in his January 8 statement, student fees are increasing by double digit figures. It’s true. Wits University increased this year by 10 percent. Let me tell you why.”
He said the student subsidy was not equivalent to covering the cost of higher education and running Wits - and that was the problem.
“If you don’t believe me, go look at the report of the Department of Higher Education and Training on funding.
“It was authored and chaired by the deputy president, Cyril Ramaphosa, and what that report says is that higher education gets about R22bn in this country.
“If we were funded according to the global average, we should be getting R37bn. There’s R14bn shortage in funding for higher education. How do you expect us to cover the costs of this university?”
He said the only way to do so was to increase fees.
If they didn’t do this, he said, they would compromise on the quality of higher education itself, and “I’m telling you openly, Wits is committed to ensuring poor people get access to this university”.
“We are also committed to ensuring that poor people get access to quality education and not to sub-standard education. We will not import the challenges of the secondary education system into the tertiary education system. That’s the context within which those double digits come in and whether you are talking to us or talking to UCT or talking to the University of Johannesburg, those challenges exist.”
He said poor students were “right to be angry… the only thing I ask is if you’re directing this at me, it’s misdirected”.
“If we had the cash, we would make it available. But if we don’t have the money, where do we find the money?
“That’s the historic challenge and that’s the conversation that’s required by our society in this historical moment.
“We’ve requested the upfront fee because the subsidy comes in April of every year. In January, February, March and April we’ve got to cover costs.
“We’ve got electricity, water, salaries - we’ve got running costs. We have to cover those costs and so the question is: How do we cover those costs? The upfront fee enables us to cover those costs.
“And by the way, there’s been some loose talk by all sides, which I think is unfortunate. I’ve heard some cheap talk about if people do not learn, we will burn the campus or we will act in ways we can’t control. I want to say this is very unfortunate, and I also want to uncategorically say it is unacceptable.”
He said Wits University had a proud tradition of protest and would continue to respect the right to protest.
“To engage in violence and to engage in the destruction of property is not only a violation of university policy, it is illegal in this country. We will not allow such a situation to happen. If anyone breaks any infrastructure or intimidates or violates or engages in violence, we’ll act firmly.
“That will mean an immediate expulsion without consideration for ever coming back again.”
Wits delays fee payment
On Friday Wits and the SRC reached an agreement. It was decided that the upfront registration fee payment would be temporarily waived for first-year students who had applied for and met the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) criteria and had been accepted to study at Wits. The waiver will apply until final NSFAS allocations are made, probably by Friday. For students who have been declined funding, the waiver will be revoked and they’ll have five working days to pay half the upfront payment, R4 670. If they don’t, they can’t study at Wits.
The Star