No-fees pressure on fiscus
Parliament budget office presents higher education funding options
Additional funding from the fiscus will be required irrespective of the funding model for higher education adopted by the government, the parliamentary budget office warned on Tuesday. The office presented its research findings on funding options for higher education to members of the standing committee on appropriations. The budget office’s findings were released at a time the government is looking for a funding model to address tertiary education funding. According to the report, government would need more than R250bn in additional funds in the medium term to cover all undergraduate students in the system. Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande’s announcement in September to cap university fee increases at 8% and to assist the poor and so-called missing middle has led to widespread and often violent protests across campuses, forcing some universities to close. Protesting students are demanding a 0% fee increase across the board and ultimately free tertiary education...
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