Funds for post-school education and training is a national priority

The South African government is acutely aware of the challenges faced by poor, working-class and middle-class students regarding the cost of university education. The intervention by government announced this week by Higher Education and Training Minister Dr Blade Nzimande is a first of its kind and bears testimony to this.

Students qualifying for the National Financial Aid Scheme, as well as the so-called “missing middle” – that is, students whose families earn above the financial aid scheme threshold but who are unable to support their children to access higher education, will experience no fee increase in 2017. This support also extends to students at Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges.

The minister’s recommendation that university fee adjustments should not exceed 8% for 2017 requires an additional amount from state coffers to honour the commitment to poor, working class and middle class students.

Administrative mechanisms will be developed for this gap-funding grant before the end of this year.

Fee income

Fee income is a critical source of financing for universities, government subsidy and third stream income being the other two sources. In a developing country such as South Africa, there are many urgent and pressing demands on our fragile fiscus in the struggle to re-build our unequal society. At the same time, we need to ensure that those who can afford to pay must pay. We cannot address the matter of fees with a blanket approach.

Our 26 public universities and 50 TVET colleges are valuable national assets. They empower the next generation with skills and knowledge, and contribute significantly to the ability of our economy to compete globally through innovative and appropriate research. Our universities face serious challenges in terms of funding with ever-rising costs of teaching and research equipment, extending facilities, providing adequate student accommodation, keeping abreast of international academic trends and global research and attracting academic staff to maintain quality. At the same time, large numbers of South Africans are currently finding it difficult to access post-school education because of the financial challenges they face.

2017 fee adjustment

In addressing the matter of the 2017 fee adjustment, the current context must be understood. The 0% fee adjustment for 2016 called for by the student #FeesMustFall movement in October last year and agreed upon collectively by universities, students and government, and announced by President Jacob Zuma, resulted in government having to subsidise the 0% fee increase to the tune of R1.9 billion of the R2.3-billion shortfall to universities. It must be noted that there was a fee adjustment for 2016, however this adjustment was funded not by student fees but by government and some universities who were able to support the decision financially.

University councils determine university fees, not the government. However, because of the severity of the issue, leadership has been provided this year by government, specifically the minister of higher education and training. Prior to determining what would be a fair recommendation, the minister requested a report from the Council on Higher Education, which recommended an adjustment linked to the consumer price index.

Thereafter the minister consulted widely on the issue with a range of stakeholders including university vice-chancellors, council chairpersons, student organisations, organised labour, faith communities, political organisations and government. All these valuable inputs were considered in reaching a recommendation, which would be fair in the circumstances. The Higher Education Price Index, a CPI adjustment plus 2%, was recognised to be necessary to ensure sustainability of the system

The best approach is to allow universities individually to determine the level of increase that their institutions will require to ensure that they continue to operate effectively and at least maintain existing quality – with the caution that this also has to take into account the affordability to students and the minister’s recommendation of a maximum of 8%. At the same time the government has to ensure that the social justice principle is upheld to lessen the burden on families who are financially needy.

Post-school funding

Our economy is currently weak and the tax burden has been rising. We must preserve the fiscal space to fund the full spectrum of government’s agenda in future years. Any funding we mobilise to support challenges in higher education would need to be reprioritised from other government programmes.

The government is faced with a complex balancing act.

The post-school education and training budget also has to cover TVET college students while we also face the challenge of building a community college sector to provide educational alternatives for 18 million South Africans who are unable to improve their education and skills. Artisan development is another key focus area and to address the National Development Plan target of producing 30 000 artisans per annum by 2030, this sector is another priority.

Post-school education and training received the biggest increase of any government department with an additional 18% for 2016-2017, and an average annual increase of 9.8% through the life of the medium term expenditure framework until 2018-2019. From R42 billion in the 2015-2016 financial year, the department’s budget is set to rise to R55.3 billion in 2018-2019.

More than R4.5 billion in the 2016-2017 financial year has been reprioritised for the financial aid scheme. Expanded funding is targeting 205 000 students entering universities for the first-time or continuing are supported this year, as well as another 200 000 students at TVET colleges. This means that 405 000 students will receive government support to access universities and colleges in 2016.

Commission of inquiry

The creation of the presidential commission of inquiry into higher education funding, including universities and TVET colleges, has been tasked to advise on systemic and long-term measures to achieve a far-reaching reconstitution of the entire post-school education and training funding system, to enable South Africans to access higher education regardless of their origins, financial circumstances, or the financial standing of their families.

Led by Judge Jonathan Heher, the commission will also contribute significantly to building and strengthening our universities and TVET colleges – and the commission should be allowed to complete its vital task. It is due to submit its report in April 2017.

In the interim, while we all wait for the recommendations of this commission, our university system has to continue functioning, producing skills for the economy, and empowering young South Africans and students from countries around the world, particularly the Southern African Development Community.

While the presidential commission does its important work in developing proposals for a long-term funding model, universities will not be able to operate with less funding than they already have.

Inflation is a harsh reality.

Task team

The minster of higher education and training has also constituted a ministerial task team on the missing middle, which is developing a model that will be tested in 2017 to provide affordable support to these students. We will continue to look for other ways of supporting financially needy students not covered by the financial aid scheme, while a long-term solution is being developed.

The issue of funding for post-school education and training is a national priority, not only for government, but also for all sectors of our society. Re-building our unequal society and producing skills for our developing economy is of concern to us all.

• Qonde is the director-general of the department of higher education and training.