Learning deficit

Although Ramaphosa acknowledged the protests taking place on some university campuses, which led to a death of a student in Durban, he failed to say how the issues being raised will be addressed. Instead, he delegated the task.

“We call on student representatives and university authorities to work together to find solutions to the challenge that students are facing.”

But these two parties seem to be failing to find each other. Students continue to protest about inadequate accommodation, historical debts hindering them from continuing their studies and failures by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) to disburse funds.

Ramaphosa did say NSFAS will receive priority in the “coming years” so that it is better able to disburse funds to eligible students.

He also spoke about free higher education for qualifying first-year