Durban - Universities around the country have heeded Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande’s maximum 8% fee increase recommendation, but student leaders are not impressed.
In a week where Wits, Stellenbosch, Fort Hare and other universities across the country confirmed 8% fee increases for the 2017 academic year, the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) and the University of Zululand confirmed similar increases on Friday.
At UKZN spokesman Lesiba Seshoka said 70% (about 32 000) of the student population would not be affected by the increase as they would be covered by the government through Nzimande’s commitment to fund the increases of the missing middle (those whose parents had a combined household income of no more than R600 000 per year) and National Student Financial Aid Scheme-funded students.
At the University of Zululand spokeswoman Gcina Nhleko said 94% (about
15 800) of the student population qualified for NSFAS, which means only 6% of the student population would be expected to pay more for their education than they did in the past two years.
But student leaders have wholly rejected the 8% increases again, as they did in September as #FeesMustFall protests swept through university campuses around the country.
Noxolo Bhengu, the new UKZN Central SRC president, said they were “strongly against any increment”.
“The two student representatives sat in council and fought, but they were outvoted by the rest of the members.”
Bhengu said despite the government committing to fund the fee increases of the poor and missing middle, which amounts to seven out of every 10 students at her university, they did not see this as a benefit to students.
“A fee increment can never be a benefit for us, we understand the university has issues with the shortfall, but that is not the fault of the students, and it should not be students who suffer.
“What about the students who will not be covered by the government and what if the government did not make such an arrangement, the university should find other means to cover the shortfall,” she said.
Bhengu said they were expecting the fee commission to pronounce that free education was feasible.
The EFF Student Command’s Nathi Phetha, who sits on the Howard College SRC on the student services portfolio, questioned why the universities all waited for exams to sit and in some cases finish - before making announcements.
He said students and stakeholders would regroup over the holidays and strategise the way forward.
“When we were on strike, we were clear that we do not want any increases, we want free and quality education. The 2012 report said free education is feasible, even the ruling party at its own conferences have been speaking about free education, it is long overdue and there are means to make it possible,” he said.
Phetha said the government should prioritise spending on higher education and called on additional taxes to be imposed on big business.
South African Students’ Congress KZN chairman, Lwandile Mtsolo, said the Department of Higher Education and Training needed to speed up the process of clearing historic student debt as this had not been done, despite a commitment earlier this year.
“The department must have a clear plan to say how all the students who qualify to have NSFAS, who were not provided with it in previous years, will be covered by this agreement,” he said.
He called on the NSFAS student loans to be converted to grants.
Seshoka said they understood the financial pressure students and families were under, but fee increases were important for the survival of the university.
“The long-term financial sustainability and survival of the university are also key considerations to ensure that UKZN can continue to serve its stakeholders appropriately into the future,” he said.
sihle.mlambo@inl.co.za
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