Cape Town - After much anticipation, President Jacob Zuma on Monday released the findings of the Heher commission, which investigated the possibility of providing free higher education in South Africa.
Here are 10 things you need to know about the fees commission report.
1. The Commission recommended that government increase its expenditure on higher education and training to a minimum of 1% of the GDP.
2. It wants government to adopt a cost-effective plan to develop more student accommodation and historically-disadvantaged institutions should be a top priority.
3. Government has been asked to investigate the viability of "online and blended learning" as an alternative to formal study, due to capacity issues at many institutions.
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4. With regards to TVET colleges, the commission recommended that students should receive fully subsidised free education in the form of grants.
5. The Commission recommended that post-graduate students have access to a cost-sharing model of government guaranteed Income-Contingency Loans sourced from commercial banks (ICL).
6. Students with debt, but who have already graduated, should be offered income-contingent loans (ICL) as well.
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7. The Commission recommended that the current National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) system be replaced by the ICL system.
8. According to the Commission, undergraduate and postgraduate students studying at public and private universities and colleges, should be funded through the ICL system.
9. The Commission called on the scrapping of application and registration fees.
10. The Commission recommends that commercial banks issue government guaranteed loans to students that are payable upon graduation and repayment only starts when the student reaches a certain threshold income.