‘The call should be for affordable higher education’

One higher education expert who has cautioned against free higher education is Dr Nico Cloete, director of the Centre for Higher Education Trust.

In a 2015 paper, titled The Flawed Ideology of Free Higher Education, he argued that free higher education “sounds revolutionary and is an appealing mobilising cry”.

“But in a developing country it is financially, empirically and morally wrong — the poster should read ‘Affordable higher education for all’ — with a clear understanding that affordable means different costs for different groups in society,” he said.

Speaking to the Mail & Guardian on Thursday, Cloete said a critical question that must be answered if government does offer free higher education is: What will be free?

“Is it going to be free tuition, accommodation and everything? If it’s free education, what will be the incentive that will get the poor students to leave university? You might have a situation where you have students spending eight to nine years in the system,” he said.

He said currently 53% of undergraduate students leave after six years and that only 30% graduate leave after three years, which is the minimum period.

There was pressure on students studying on a loan to leave because they know if they stay longer their loan gains more interest, he said.

But chairperson of Universities South Africa (Usaf) Professor Ahmed Bawa said university policies don’t allow students to stay on for years without graduating.

He said all universities have a rule that a student studying for a three-year undergraduate qualification cannot be at a university for five years, unless there is a deepseated issue that has hindered the student from passing.

“You cannot have free education for your whole life,” said Bawa.

He said Usaf has being arguing for a long time for free higher education for the poor and would fully support its implementation.

“Usaf has made it clear that the students who currently qualify for NSFAS [National Student Financial Aid Scheme], those students qualify for fee-free higher education, we are completely aligned.”

He said the debate is about how one defines poor and “missing middle” students — too rich to qualify for NSFAS but too poor to afford fees.