Government committed to fund poorer learners

fees lies with individual university councils, the government felt it was necessary for it to assist by providing leadership on the matter in a manner which sought to balance the range of competing interests within the overall national budget framework, while ensuring the long-term viability of the South African university sector.

It must also be appreciated that fees for students from poor backgrounds are covered by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, known as NSFAS.

And together with the Department of Higher Education and Training, universities also continue to mobilise institutional and private sector financial support for students not covered by NSFAS, specifically those students whose family incomes are above the NSFAS threshold, but who cannot afford fees on their own.

In addition, a new loan model for these students will be tested in 2017 before full implementation in the coming years.

In the meantime, fees remain a significant part of the financing model for higher education and training, and it is also only right that those who can afford to pay for a university education continue to do so.

It is indeed very difficult to understand why young South Africans whose parents can afford to send them to private schools are not willing to pay a realistic