Minister Pandor needs to address the R9 billion in student debt owed to Universities
13 February 2019
It was revealed today in Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training that students owe Universities some R9 billion, consisting of debts that have accumulated over the years before fee-free Higher Education was introduced.
The students concerned are affected in multiple ways including some are not allowed to continue their studies even though they may be doing well academically; they are not given their results until the money is paid off; and some are not permitted to graduate because of debt.
This is a particularly painful experience for those who see that new students coming into Universities in years below them, who are beneficiaries of fee-free higher education and will probably never have to pay such enormous amounts of money in order to study.
The pressure from students to find a solution to this problem will not go away by itself and requires urgent intervention from the Minister of Higher Education and Training, Naledi Pandor.