Daily Dispatch
‘Free education’ without a plan
HIGHER education in South Africa may be in for yet another turbulent year. Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) commander-in-chief Julius Malema at the weekend called on all academically deserving matriculants, who could not afford to study, to take advantage of the promise of free education and flock to universities in the coming weeks.
In his year-end message, the outspoken Malema said that the party would be waiting at the gates of all learning institutions “to ensure that priority is not only given to those who can afford to pay”.
If former pupils do take up the call and show up in their numbers, there will undoubtedly be mayhem at our institutions of higher learning at the start of the academic year.
Universities South Africa (USA), which represents the country’s 26 universities, in a report on page 4 said it feared there could be stampedes if students simply showed up to enrol without having made prior arrangements. The body further accused politicians of using the contentious fees issue as “political football”.
The debate on free education has featured prominently in South African dialogue since the rise of the #FeesMustFall movement more than two years ago.
A commission, chaired by retired Judge Jonathan Heher, was set up to investigate the feasibility of making higher education fee-free.
The commission found that free higher education and training was not yet financially viable for South Africa.
However, it made other recommendations. One such recommendation was a cost-sharing model of government-guaranteed “Income-Contingency Loans” sourced from commercial banks.
Despite the commission’s finding that South Africa could not afford to provide free education, President Jacob Zuma announced last month that government would subsidise free higher education for poor and working class students.
He further said that the definition of poor and working class students would now refer to “currently enrolled TVET colleges or university students from South African households with a combined annual income of up to R350 000”.
USA said it was surprised by Zuma’s announcement, and added: “We have raised our concerns about the timing…and the absence of a clear implementation strategy.”
Opening the doors of higher education to more youths is a worthy aim that the entire country should be backing, but we must all be sober and responsible in our handling of the matter. It is not entirely clear how Zuma’s plan will be implemented as there has been no clear direction from the powersthat-be. The question now is what will happen when tertiary institutions open in a few weeks and administration offices are flooded by prospective students who want to enrol? Also concerning are the consequences if they are not allowed to register. Sanity must prevail. It was irresponsible of Zuma to announce free education without a plan on how it will be achieved.