Frustrated Wits students on Thursday protested against insufficient financial support and accommodation, blocking streets around Braamfontein. Picture: Itumeleng English/ANA
Johannesburg - Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation Blade Nzimande has urged all students to return to class in order to enable the commencement of the academic year without any disruptions.
This comes after a Nzimande held a meeting with Universities South Africa on Friday to discuss matters that were of concern to many students in some of our public universities.
Students in various institutions of higher learning have been protesting and shutting down campuses due to lack of accommodation, food and financial exclusion.
In a bid to have universities deal with pockets of protest using their own internal mechanisms, Nzimande said the meeting had agreed that all institutions should urgently convene meetings through bodies such as campus institutional forums with the relevant student leadership to address all outstanding registration challenges.
The minister encouraged all stakeholders at institutions to ensure that institutional forums were revived and actively engaged in finding solutions to the challenges facing our institutions.
According to Nzimande, the meeting discussed the issue of the recently introduced NSFAS R45 000 accommodation cap.
“We must take in account a number of contradictory facts affecting the implementation of the R45 000 cap, inter alia, evidence of price collusion by landlords (leading) to profiteering, the realities of the differentiated costs of living in various localities where NSFAS students have to find accommodation, and the continued existence of unaccredited accommodation establishments that imperil the affordability and safety of student accommodation,” he said.
However, he was concerned about the violent nature of some of the demonstrations, such as the protest at Wits, during which there were isolated acts of intimidation of students, staff and members of the public, as well as the destruction of public and private property.
Furthermore, he reiterated the fact that arrangements had been made for all NSFAS-funded students to be registered by all institutions without them having to pay an upfront registration fee.
The meeting reiterated the commitment by the Department of Higher Education and Training and Universities SA to implement all previous agreements with the SA Union of Students.
The agreements are as follows:
- All NSFAS students with academic places who have debt be allowed to register at universities, provided they sign the acknowledgement of debt form and they meet the academic requirements for continued funding.
- All NSFAS-qualifying students be able to register for the academic year without making upfront payments.
- All students, whether they owe the university fees or not, be given their academic records, either for the purpose of pursuing employment opportunities or further study, and all universities will provide a form of academic transcript to all students, regardless of their financial status.
- All students who are NSFAS recipients and wish to advance to postgraduate study be prioritised for funding through the National Research Foundation funding, provided that it is borne in mind that entry to postgraduate study often requires a much higher pass mark at undergraduate level.
- All “missing middle” students (those who do not qualify for NSFAS, but struggle to afford higher education fees) be dealt with in the comprehensive funding model, which is in its final stages of development and approval.
The meeting also emphasised that Universities SA had confirmed that, since the 2020 academic year, all universities have had processes and funding arrangements in place to assist missing-middle students with debt so that they could register.
The issue of student debt was also being dealt with as part of the development of a comprehensive student funding model. It was therefore incorrect and misleading to say that the issue of student debt was not being dealt with in all its complexities.
Nzimande condemned the violent student protests and said they were wholly unacceptable and provided no solution to student concerns.
He also urged all student leaders who have disengaged from various internal engagements with institution management to return to those discussions.
kamogelo.moichela@inl.co.za
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