“It is important to transform higher education in South Africa and make it more inclusive so that those who have been traditionally denied access as a result of their poor economic status are also afforded access.”
Last year, President Jacob Zuma announced that higher education at universities and FET colleges will be provided at no cost to students whose parents earn less than R350 000 combined annual income.

Commission spokesperson Gail Smith says the policy decision to provide free higher education for students falling within the announced threshold represents a positive move towards the progressive realisation of the right to further education and training.

“The Commission urges the State to provide clarity on the implementation of the announced decision to provide free higher education as soon as practically possible to remove the prevailing uncertainty,” Smith said.
Smith says the Commission has observed increasing tensions amongst several stakeholders in light of the current registration processes underway.

“It must be noted that the decision on free higher education does not increase the number of spaces that each institution of higher learning can afford to avail to students.
“Those institutions should therefore not be compelled, directly or indirectly, to admit more students than the number of learning spaces that each of them can make available. Overcrowding and stretching resources available at these institutions can have a negative impact on the very right of access to higher education that the country is trying to give poor students access to,” she said.
She added that the commission, therefore, urges all parties to collaborate to ensure that all poor students are accommodated and that the registration processes across all campuses take place in an inclusive and peaceful manner.

Source: TNA