Repaying varsity debt hurts

IT IS well-known that most universities withhold certificates and academic transcripts belonging to graduates with outstanding fees. This is a brutal policy that will permanently impoverish graduates by barring them from finding work.

The same universities continue to chase the unemployed graduates with debt collectors. I do not understand how universities expect to benefit because clearly both parties gain nothing.

I feel the pain because I am suffering at home, both my Honours and BCom degree withheld for three to four years, even though I have fully paid for my undergraduate course under difficult circumstances.

One tries by all means to negotiate a practical solution with universities, but they tell you there is nothing they can do. You write to the Department of Higher Education and Training, they mock you.

University qualifications provide graduates with a better chance of finding jobs yet they have to search for matric jobs hoping that someday they will earn enough to settle university debts which continue to accumulate interest. It is a permanent struggle.

The question of whether education is about development or profit will continue to haunt the country. — Siyanda, Southernwood