The South African Students Congress (SASCO) notes and welcome the statement by Minister of Higher Education and Training with caution. As per Right To Learn Campaign we will continue to monitor the institutions of Higher Learning and TVET Colleges, as we declared that no deserving and qualifying student shall be left behind.
We are particularly delighted by the green light given by the cabinet to mitigate the 10 billion NSFAS shortfall and we urge Treasury to work harder to ensure that more money is pumped into Higher Education and Training inline with the government’s 2030 vision especially as it relates to Postgraduate funding and the so-called Missing Middle.
We happily note that the delay in registration as a result of NSFAS pending confirmation of funding has been addressed and that all qualifying and deserving students can now start registering and we hope that institutions will with immediate effect begin to deal with this huge backlog.
SASCO has been consistent in making the call that students must be protected from greedy landlords and universities, we therefore welcome the intervention that NSFAS will directly deal with Landlords to mitigate delays in payments which result in an unnecessary eviction of students. We equally note that students will also be handled directly by NSFAS when it comes to their Living Allowances and we hope to never again see another student being an escape goat of a heist like Sibongile Mani of WSU.
SASCO wishes to however vehemently oppose the proposed fee hikes because our country has been hard hit by an economic depression as a result of Covid19 Lockdown, this is proven by the now increased number of qualifying households for NSFAS. It is quite absurd that government has failed to honour the salaries increase for Public Servants using the same reasoning it is today using to advance and justify fee increment.
It is out of the understanding we have that this increment is nothing but a mass exclusionary tool for the so called missing middle as they will be the hardest hit and this very government that has been imposing austerity measures will also bare the cost for these ridiculous tuition increment, Universities do not exist in isolation of the socio-economic conditions which faces the country and the globe.
The National Working Committee will be convening all progressives across board to intensify the Free Quality and Compulsory Education campaign as we have identified the need to have an education front to campion this call such that never again must students have sleepless nights about being funded.
Issued by SASCO
Bamanye Matiwane
President
Buthanani Thobela
Secretary General
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