Missing middle students face higher education barriers due to funding shortfalls
FORMER university students, who shot to prominence for championing #FeesMustFall struggle, have raised concern about many high achievers in matric results facing prospects of being unable to further their studies.
They expressed concern about the government’s failure to keep its promise, which then-president Jacob Zuma made shortly before being recalled from office.
At the end of 2017, as he was facing the strong prospect of being recalled from the Union Building, Zuma announced free higher education for poor and working-class students and left it to President Cyril Ramaphosa to implement.
This caused the #FeesMustFall activists to withdraw their struggle, which they had begun in 2015.
Former #FeesMustFall activist at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Mfundo Masondo, now a councillor at Umvoti Municipality in Greytown, said the announcement meant victory and withdrawal of the violent struggle.
At the time of the #FeesMustFall protests, Masondo was studying towards a Bachelor of Law Degree at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
“My mother, who funded my education, died around that time, leaving me with hope that free education was going to assist me to complete my studies.
“But that did not happen, and I had to drop out.
“I am very embarrassed because what we fought for was never achieved, whereas some of us were arrested, and millions of rand worth of infrastructure were damaged during the #FeesMustFall,” he said.
The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) only funds students whose annual household income does not exceed R350 000 while for those with a disability is not above R600 000.
He said: “Practically free education is not available.”
He said children from working-class families who earn above the salary required by NSFAS cannot afford to pay university fees.
“I can tell you that varsity fees would be at R60 000 or R70 000 a year.
“People can enrol for the first year but when the person is unable to continue with payment, the university would hold results and he would be unable to register for the second year.
“This means that the person faces a serious problem that could spell the end of their future, and they may become redundant,” he said.
Zuma’s announcement brought hope and joy among students and parents struggling to keep up with unaffordable tuition fees.
However, over the years, it became a reality that this was just another announcement with no implementation to follow.
Another former #FeesMustFall activist, Bonginkosi Khanyile, said the failure to implement free higher education has consequences for matriculants from the missing middle families.
“The future for them looks very bleak and not promising,” he said.
He said students who are already enrolled at universities and colleges should have the energy to do “what we have done before because what cannot be won through logic or persuasion can only be won on the street,” he said.
Khanyile suffered prosecution and house arrest for participating in the struggle while studying law at Wits University.
“Talking about the missing middle, teachers and police officers are expected to afford their children’s higher education fees.
“As someone who studied law at Wits, I know that for a full year, I would need R250 000, and since Law is a four-year degree it means I need about a R1 million,” he said.
He said after Zuma’s announcement, Ramaphosa attempted to implement free education.
“We saw the implementation but in 2018/2019, they said the state could not afford and said students must be on NSFAS and those who might not qualify for NSFAS must pay the fees,” he said.
EFF’s Chuma Wakeni was detained for 49 days behind bars for participating in the protests while a student at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
“There is no free education, which means the struggle continues,” he said.
Equal Education organiser Siyanga Komani said the solution would be for NSFAS to expand its funding scope to include those in the missing middle since there were shortages of scholarships and bursaries in the country.
“This is an issue of concern because you will find that these learners will now have to take gap years while others have to opt out for lower-quality institutions that they did not even want to align themselves with.
“It becomes a setback just because of the funding,” she said.
She said most of such people ended up finding work and lose “motivation to study”.
“NSFAS need to be expanded to cover more students like low-income households.
‘’Even the government funding is needed to reduce higher education fees, which are too much,” said Komani.
Higher Education and Training Department spokesperson, Ishmael Mnisi, could not be reached for comment. The story will be updated when he responds to questions sent to him.
bongani.hans@inl.co.za