HIGHER EDUCATION
Whoever pays for it, fees hike is needed, MPs told
Higher Education director-general says higher fees are an ‘economic imperative’
Fees need to be hiked regardless of whether education is free or not, to take account of the economic realities facing higher education institutions, Department of Higher Education director-general Gwebinkundla Qonde says. "It has nothing to do with who pays the fees. It’s an economic imperative," Qonde told Parliament on Wednesday. While most universities have yet to announce fee increases for 2018 because they are awaiting the release of the Heher commission’s report on funding higher education, Universities South Africa recently told Higher Education Minister Hlengiwe Mkhize that universities needed an 8% increase in income. University of Cape Town vice-chancellor Max Price told the Sunday Times last week that tuition fees made up about half of the institution’s income and staff salaries would have to be cut if there was no fee increase. Qonde ducked MPs’ questions on the Heher commissions’ report, saying he was not at liberty to discuss its contents. The report, saying fee-free ...
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