Only students offered places to get funding

Accepted applicants will be assessed for full subsidies – higher education minister

ONLY prospective students who have been offered a place to study at a tertiary institution will be considered for the fully subsidised education announced by President Jacob Zuma last month‚ Higher Education Minister Hlengiwe Mkhize has said.

Briefing the media in Pretoria yesterday‚ Mkhize said this higher education funding policy‚ which would be phased in over a five-year period‚ extended the provision of higher education and training to the children of the bottom 90% of South African households.

This was provided they met the academic admission criteria and requirements of tertiary institutions.

Consideration for funding would only be for those who had applied for and been offered a place to study at the institution.

There were a defined number of spaces at each institution determined by the institution’s approved enrolment plan.

Mkhize said the government would be providing full bursaries for tuition and study material to qualifying poor and working-class students at public TVET colleges and universities, but subsidies for accommodation or transport would be capped at specific levels for those who qualified‚ starting with firsttime entry students this year.

The phasing in of this policy would allow the government to gradually phase in fully subsidised free higher education for eligible poor and working-class students on a year-on-year basis in a fiscally sustainable manner.

“In line with the government’s commitment to opening up access to opportunities for students in the post-school education and training system‚ the department remains committed to the egalitarian principles of equality‚ fairness‚ justice and diversity‚” she said.

However, the government has refused to reveal how much the free higher education is likely to cost and where the money will come from‚ saying only that it will not be beyond the approved budget.

Mkhize said Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba had made a plea for the government not to speak about the funding details of the new higher education policy.

“He made a plea to all of us‚ the [inter-ministerial] committee‚ to communicate‚ address issues and leave the nitty-gritty to him, but the technical team assured us that this is not going to affect the limits.

“That means it will not go beyond the approved budget voted for in parliament.”

Mkhize said Gigaba had helped the committee to make a breakthrough on the financing of free higher education for students from poor and working-class families.

She said the budgeting process had started with the Fees Must Fall campaign and funds had already been identified and pumped into the National Students Financial Aid Scheme.

The NSFAS had already received more than 300 000 applications for first-year students for the 2018 academic year.

Mkhize said all applicants in possession of a firm offer from a tertiary institution would be assessed for funding using revised criteria.

Those in possession of a firm offer from a tertiary institution but who had not applied for funding would be assisted, while students who may not have applied at an institution or to the NSFAS would be assisted through the Central Applications Clearing House.

Meanwhile, EFF Student Command (EFFSC) president Phuti Keetse said at a briefing in Johanesburg yesterday its call for walk-ins at higher education institutions was not intended “to cause any anarchy but if we are pushed‚ we will be left with no choice”.

He said the academic year was starting off with “brutal exclusion of the poor of the poorest‚ academically deserving students being excluded because of systematic financial exclusions by Universities South Africa”.

The EFFSC is adamant it will ensure organised late application walk-ins at institutions.

“There will be walk-ins and fighters must assist walk-ins with food‚ accommodation and ensure safety and security for every student on campus.” – TimesLIVE, additional reporting by Kgaugelo Masweneng