PART 2: FREE EDUCATION IS THE FUTURE – BUILD IT NOW: NSFAS REVIEW NOTHING NEW

We had intended to update this “Free Education Blog” but those intentions were overtaken by unfortunate events that befell some members of our organization and thus necessitated that our movement shift its focus, momentarily, into other arena. We had also intended that the second instalment of our intervention on the Free Education discourse would focus on “enemies of Free Education”.

Events do not await human intentions and as a result events shortened the distance between intentions and implementation such that on the 10th of March, 5 days after our Free Education March, the Minister of Higher Education Dr. Blade Nzimande unveiled an NSFAS Review Committee Report, whose contents have a tremendous impact on the Free Education discourse.

We (as an organization) have decided to drop “Enemies of Free Education” as an immediate article. Just like a woman in a mall, we have had to drop the purse in order to catch the money. Rest assured, we are not, as yet, abandoning our promise to deliver an analysis of the views and intentions of “Enemies of Free Education” some of which form part of the mass democratic movement. We will come back to the matter of “enemies of Free Education” soon.

Back to the NSFAS Review Committee Report: The report of the NSFAS Review Committee is refreshingly well nuanced and radical in a manner no other Ministerial Committee report has ever deigned to achieve. Its acceptance of the possibility of “Free Education” is a major boost to those who have argued for “Free Higher Education”.

Thus far, we have been accustomed to Ministerial Committees conducting interviews with various participants and at the same time paying scant regard to the views of the interviewees, not so was the NSFAS review process. Although we might not be delighted with all the recommendations of the NSFAS Review Committee, its report carries a great majority of recommendations made by the student movement.

We are not just elated by the fact that aside from our formal submission, the NSFAS Review Committee went on to discover precisely the same backlogs about the NSFAS system which have caused ferocious student protests year in and year out. Amongst these is (1) the incapacity of NSFAS to provide full funding for students (2) its ridiculous means test which has left hundreds of thousands of students locked out of the system (3) the outrageous blacklisting of students and the despicable interest charged on students.

All these factors considered separately and in their interconnectedness have contributed immensely to the inability of students to pursue their studies. Blacklisting together with interest charged on students are chief causes of suffering by families of NSFAS beneficiaries who have had to finance debt as soon as they acquire jobs. The scraping of interest charged and the removal of the hangman’s noose on students by issuing a general credit amnesty for all those that have been blacklisted thus far would throw a lifeline to families of NSFAS beneficiaries.

The revelation that hundreds of thousands of students have, thus far, not been able to repay their NSFAS debt is full proof that the thinking that students as soon as they complete their studies would be in a position to repay their NSFAS is simply an illusion. The levels of unemployment in our country should fix the matter firmly in the eyes of repayment illusionists that this is unworkable. The best manner to ensure that “Free Education” funds are kept available is the declaration of an education tax on corporates and handsomely remunerated South Africans.

When all the stumbling blocks are overcome, the road leads to one direction - Free Education. Only a drunk driver can overturn the car and smash the passengers!

To be continued…