'More can be done': Education expert on NSFAS
An education expert has welcomed Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande's announcement that students receiving NSFAS funding - as well as those who fall under the so-called 'missing middle' - will not be subjected to fee increases next year.
Nzimande said yesterday varsities should determine their own fee increases but that they should not exceed 8%.
He added that households earning less than R600 000 per year will not see an increase in fees, either.
Analyst Kobus Maree feels NSFAS still needs to increase its funding as many students are unable to live on it.
"There are still students who simply cannot make do with the NSFAS bursary. They don't have the means to study, to buy food, to travel to and from their homes, to buy clothing to buy books etc. There's a little uncertainty and i'm not criticising the minister. I know times are very difficult and i know his doing his best, but I think more can be done," he said.
The South African Union of Students called for all Student Representative Councils (SRC) across the country to engage university management to push for the fee increment to go down as far as possible.