Even the poorest of university students will have to find a way to pay back the money for their tertiary education or risk being nailed by the tax man. This was one of the key recommendations put forward by the Commission of Inquiry into Higher Education and Training.Its interim report, dated November 2, was released by President Jacob Zuma yesterday moments before he was quizzed on the Fees Must Fall protests during a Q&A session in parliament.The commission, established in June amid ongoing and often violent protests, was given the task of investigating calls for free education and other sources of funding for tertiary education.Student protests: Death, serious injuries mar demosThere were multiple casualties on both sides of the battle for free tertiary education this week, with protests becoming increasingly violent on university campuses.The final report is expected to be completed in June 2017.Despite acknowledging that "too many deserving candidates" were being excluded for financial reasons, the commission said students who receive state funding should not expect a free ride."Because higher education and training produces substantial long-term benefits for both the state and a successful student, persons who enjoy fee-free higher education should be treated as loan recipients in respect of which a reasonable obligation to repay in full or in part arises when a certain level of income is earned by the former student. An important influence in favour of the obligation to repay was the perceived need to render the funding process self-sustaining as fully and as quickly as possible," the report said. Battle of wills at WitsStudents who wear a mask during protests face suspension.It also slated the National Student Financial Aid Scheme for being ineffective at collecting debts from graduated students and said the funding body needed to hand over this responsibility."Ideally the loan obligation should be collected and enforced through the income tax authorities," the report said.The commission called on the government to find more money to fund higher education. The state spends about R60-billion a year on higher education. The commission said this would need to be doubled...