With the right funding priorities we can assist poor students and universities 

29 August 2016

The current fee crisis in universities is the result of two decades of chronic financial neglect by the ANC government. 

Finding the funding for growth in both NSFAS funding and university subsidies will be difficult, but it is vital for our future that this be done. Even in the face of scarcity, South Africa has options to better spend its resources and better govern its institutions. 

As such, in July, the DA made a submission to the Commission of Inquiry into Higher Education and Training, who have been tasked to enquire into, make findings, report on and make recommendations on the feasibility of making higher education and training fee-free in South Africa.

The DA proposed the following: 

- The system should focus on the numbers of high quality graduates it produces rather than the numbers it takes in; this will ensure that the system will obtain the greatest possible benefit from each Rand spent.

- The poorest students need the most comprehensive financial support, which should be diluted as little as possible.

- The “missing middle” students should receive support, but it should be proportional to their financial standing.

- Better-off students should not receive government financial support for fees or other expenses, as they would either be able to pay for their studies themselves or be eligible for bank loans.

- University subsidies should move gradually towards the level of 50% of costs to a) support quality education, and b) minimize the fee-increase cycle we are currently experiencing.

These proposals will expand the numbers of students receiving NSFAS funding, and ensure that those who do receive funding will be properly funded. 

The DA was able to identify R2.73 billion in the 2016/17 budget which could have been transferred to assist poor students while also giving universities enough subsidies so they can pay their bills. 

However, the ANC rejected these proposals, yet again contributing directly to the dire financial position in which universities now find themselves. 

The lack of appropriate funding from government, in the form of subsidies paid to universities, has led to unsustainable annual fee increases, as well as high failure rates. In so doing, universities are feeling the severe effects of this anaemic funding.

In fact, just last week a reply to a DA parliamentary question revealed that 16 out of the 26 universities in South Africa, or a staggering 62%, will face financial distress in the 2017/18 year. 

Specifically, the aggregate deficit across these 16 universities is projected to be R3.97 billion for the same financial year.

Much of the current crisis has to do with government’s “massification” approach, which has led universities to take in more students than they can handle or afford. 

Many of these students are left to struggle in underfunded institutions, and, more often than not, receiving only a fraction of the funding they need to survive and thrive at university.

The government should also make higher education accessible through TVET colleges and other certified institutions of higher learning. This will help alleviate the pressure on universities while still ensuring students receive the further training needed to access the economy and live a life of dignity. 

Overstretching the limited resources of universities has also diminished the quality of instruction and research and which has only worsened an already high dropout rate.

Though NSFAS has received funding increases, especially recently, it still does not have enough funding. Compounding this problem is the fact that the NSFAS system is terribly inefficient and grants are spread too thinly. 

This means that these students are more likely to drop-out or fail, leaving them without a qualification but saddled with student debt and shattered dreams. Successive Ministers have believed they could solve this through expanding their powers to manage them. But this has not worked. Some Universities have been placed “under administration” several times. Often the period of administration has been followed by one of further corruption and bankruptcy.  The financial standing of these universities is eternally precarious. 

It must be noted that simple fee-free education for all would also be extended to those who can actually afford fees, thereby putting unnecessary pressure upon the fiscus. 

With the proper political will and financial priorities we can find a solution to the fee crisis plaguing South Africa. The DA is committed to ensuring that we do all we can to ensure this will happen and we will continue to urge the Commission for Higher Education to diligently consider these submissions so that we may make in-roads in this regard and further ensuring that more and more deserving students are granted access into tertiary institutions that are not on the brink of financial ruin. Our Higher Education sector depends on it.

Issued by Belinda Bozzoli, DA Shadow Minister of Higher Education and Training, 29 August 2016