EDITORIAL | First it was ‘pay back the money’, now ‘there is no money’

The student tuition situation is a tinder box and the police’s bull in a china shop tactics will only make it worse

10 March 2021 - 20:33 By sunday times daily

Yesterday’s deadly shooting during a Wits University student protest was a disaster waiting to happen. But an even greater disaster is our government’s lack of interest in pre-empting or preventing it. The spark that lit the fire came on Monday, when higher education minister Blade Nzimande, in an “update on funding decisions for prospective 2021 students”, confirmed financially stricken students’ worst fears. The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) “has not been able to confirm eligibility for first-time entering students wishing to study in public universities in 2021”, he said. Basically, there is no money to fund new students’ tuition...

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