Parliament meeting to discuss tertiary fees
Minister of Higher Education, Blade Nzimande will open a special debate on varsity funding in Parliament today.
The debate follows recent protests over tuition fees that students say exclude poor, mostly black students from getting a degree.
President Jacob Zuma last week announced there will be no fee increases next year.
All political parties agree that government should be making tertiary education for the most needy students free in order to close the racially skewed gap between rich and poor in South Africa.
In spite of his agreement, Nzimande and his party colleagues will be under pressure to explain why they have not acted on a three-year-old report that sets out a plan to make university fees more affordable.
While government also needs to explain where the money will come from to finance the R3-billion shortfall that will be caused by the zero fee increase for next year, students are expected to listen in on the parliamentary debate from the public gallery.
(File photo: Gallo Images)