While it is nearly a new academic year for students studying at the University of Pretoria, Professor Francis Petersen, Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the university, recently urged its donors to continue to help ease the plight of students caught in the “missing middle” in relation to paying their fees.
“One of the pressing issues we face, as a university, but also as an education sector, is what I call the student funding challenge. And this particular funding challenge is called the ‘missing middle’ funding challenge,” Petersen said at a UP event held that honoured the university’s donors.
The event took place at the Javett-UP Art Centre, where Petersen explained that the missing middle “is a group of students who fall just above the income threshold for government financial aid, who cannot afford the full cost of university education.
Their families earn too much to qualify for government financial assistance.” The missing middle, as described by Petersen, consists of students from households that earn between R350 000 and R600 000 per annum. “They can’t access NSFAS [the National Student Financial Aid Scheme], and we as institutions and companies are working together to be able to help those students.”
He told the gathered donors that their contributions have helped ease the financial burdens of many academically exceptional students, who may not have developed their academic talents without donor support.
Setlogane Manchidi, Head of Corporate Social Investment at Investec, a prominent donor, meanwhile said during his address: “One of the key realisations is that potential is all over South Africa. But sadly, in a South African context, potential seldom leads to opportunity.”
He added that “what we are all thinking about is what we do to facilitate and support opportunity that enables people to become active economic participants, because when you are active economically, your sense of purpose, aspiration, dignity, and your confidence, returns to you.”
Manchidi concluded his speech with a thought-provoking remark inspired by UP’s ‘Make today matter’ slogan: “Why does it matter how much we do, if what we do is not what matters most?”
Gugu Khumalo, a student who received funding and attended the event, said: “Getting financial aid really gave me an opportunity to pursue my studies even beyond undergraduate level.
She added that she was able to do her honours and master’s degrees for which she was fully funded. “It really opened doors for me. I am the first graduate at home and I am the first graduate to have a master’s degree at home.”
Speakers emphasised that, thanks to funding opportunities such as those provided by UP, its donors, and other partnering institutions, many UP students are being uplifted and enabled in ways that affect not just them, but their loved ones, as well as the economy and professional sector that they will eventually continue to pursue.
Pretoria News
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