Gavin Keeton asserts that "It does not help pretending that there are easy answers" to addressing issues to do with university fees (SA not skimping on campus fees, but…, December 5). He is, however, incorrect. There is a very easy answer to providing access to university study. All that is needed is reform to the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), whereby loans that cover all expenses associated with university attendance are extended to academically eligible students on a means-tested basis. Students from very poor families and the "missing middle" can be properly accommodated under such arrangements. NSFAS reform must be accompanied by a comprehensive inquiry, conducted by the Treasury, into the costs of providing university education in SA. Radical reform to the provision of higher education can arguably reduce costs substantially. Keeton also refers to taxpayer subsidies for fees in some other countries. But he fails to ask why there should be any taxpayer subsidy o...
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