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Students Facing Tertiary Obstacles Deserve Action

Dear Editor

Scenes this week of protests, distress, hunger-strikes and accommodation lock-outs, at tertiary campuses across South Africa demand action from the Minister of Higher Education & Training.

It is not enough for the Minister to visit a handful of campuses and make generic calls for change. She is in change, and the buck stops with her.

The DA calls for Minister Dr Nobuhle Pamela Nkabane to present an action plan to Parliament for the next scheduled Portfolio Committee meeting, addressing the serious issues students have highlighted this week, including defunded students, outstanding funding applications, appeals and housing backlogs.

None is more pressing than the urgent reforms needed at NSFAS:

  • Its ICT system continues to work haphazardly, with students being denied access to online NSFAS services.
  • NSFAS remains under-capacitated, despite 76 “interns” being appointed to add capacity.
  • Debt of R8bn owed to NSFAS by tertiary institutions is not being collected.
  • A new board at NSFAS, while a welcome step in the right direction, has must urgently start work on practical changes and improvements for students.

NSFAS continues to be unable to fully fund missing middle students, despite 11 000 students being brought into a loan scheme this year with no guarantee that this scheme will work or will open access to students in need.

It is appalling that young people in our country continue to be locked out of opportunities, and the DA will fight for the Minister to take action and offer a fair chance to all tertiary candidates in South Africa.

Regards

Matlhodi Maseko MP
DA Spokesperson on Higher Education & Training

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