Develop fees framework, urges Pandor
FREE higher education was not limited to tuition only, the ANC Youth League told the Fees Commission sitting in Pretoria yesterday.
ANC Youth League secretarygeneral Njabulo Nzuza said the concept of fee-free education should not be described as tuitionfee education.
Nzuza said higher education also included accommodation fees, books, study material and travelling.
He said it was the institutional autonomy that was the first barrier to fee-free education. “Institutional autonomy should be standardised; they must all be at the same level,” he said.
Nzuza proposed an increase in corporate income tax to assist higher education.
ANC senior official and Minister of Science and Technology Naledi Pandor meanwhile said the goal was free higher education for the poor.
The minister appeared in her capacity as chairperson of the ANC’s health, education, and science and technology subcommittee.
Pandor said the demand for free higher education was a demand for transformation. And university autonomy was seen as a shield against transformation, she added.
She said since 1994, the ANC began to transform higher education. “Statistics show that R60 billion in loans and bursaries via the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) was allocated for all needy students from all races throughout the country.
“Doctoral graduates have increased per year up from 1 052 in 2003 to 2 258 in 2014,” she said.
Pandor mentioned that the 2007 ANC conference in Polokwane took resolutions to progressively introduce free education for the poor until undergraduate level.
“Also, from 2011, students in Further Education and Training colleges who qualify for financial aid are exempt completely from paying,” she said.
She said NSFAS was a viable instrument for financial aid, but needed to be assisted to improve its administration.
As required by the last sitting of the hearing, Pandor presented financial proposals before the commission.
She said a new privatepublic partnership scheme – Ikusasa Student Financial Aid Programme – was to be piloted this year.
“A quarter of a company’s voluntary-skills development contributions – equivalent to 1.5% of their payroll – may be diverted to Ikusasa and qualify for broad-based black economic empowerment points.
“Should this be accepted, it is expected to bring in R8bn in the coming fiscal year, rising to R15bn by 2019 or 2020,” Pandor said, adding that the Department of Higher Education must act on the ANC’s decision that a framework to regulate fee increases in universities be developed.
The minister added that there should be increased NSFAS support for poor and “missing middle” students.