As we prepare to welcome March, classrooms and lecture halls across the country should be packed with students in pursuit of a higher education. However, the reality is that far too many have missed out on vital weeks of learning already because of protests, campus disruptions and financial disputes.
The University of Cape Town (UCT) was recently rocked by protests over fee blocks preventing indebted students from registering. The protests left many in limbo, and classes moved online.
Dozens of University of Pretoria (UP) students staged a sleep-in outside the institution’s residence offices demanding the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) increase their accommodation allowance funding of R45,000 a year.
At the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), two buildings were petrol-bombed, allegedly by students, in protest against a required 15% upfront payment of a student’s historical debt before they are allowed to register.
Also in the province, a “political student organisation” disrupted lectures at the Durban University of Technology (DUT) over registration, accommodation and financial aid issues.
These protests came just days after universities notified students of delays from NSFAS regarding funding confirmation letters for first-year and senior students, preventing many from registering.
As institutions of learning become ones of disruption, universities, such as UCT, decided to “meet students halfway” and increase the fee debt threshold to allow more students to register despite their outstanding debt.
Universities play an integral part in the future success of the country and may have a social responsibility to help the rising generation, but they also have a duty to their stakeholders and the nation.
A Stats SA report from 2020 found higher education institutions generate more revenue from student fees, donations and other sources than they do from government grants. So while they receive funding from the government, universities also use tuition and other revenue to sustain themselves.
Students are struggling financially. Director for operations and sector support at Universities South Africa Linda Meyer told a meeting of the parliamentary portfolio committee on higher education, science and technology last year student debt amounted to R16.5bn, up from R14bn at the end of 2019.
However, students also need to understand not all issues can be fixed without jeopardising the financial stability of the institution.
Meyer reported that as of 2022, servicing student debt cost universities an additional R1.2bn a year.
South Africa boasts seven universities ranked among the top 500 in the world. This prestige attracts some of the brightest academic talent on the continent and around the world. But this is hampered when funding makes up for shortfalls in government aid or if institutions lose fees generate revenue.
Load-shedding, like the Covid-19 pandemic before it, has already stretched university budgets to near breaking point. Wits Prof Ian Jandrell earlier this month revealed the university was spending millions a month running diesel generators.
Further pressure could be catastrophic to university budgets in the months and years ahead. The longer-term consequences could be even more devastating, deteriorating the quality of skills and national economic development.
In a country where a crisis is seemingly always just around the corner, let’s not make higher education next on the list. The next generation of South Africans deserve better.
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