Minister Nzimande statement on recent developments within the post school education and training sector on the 2022 graduation ceremonies
The Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Dr Blade Nzimande wishes all students who are graduating from both the Universities and Technical and Vocation Education and Training sector (TVET) a prosperous. Various institutions have been conducting their graduation ceremonies.
Minister Nzimande said what is more exciting about this year’s installation of the graduation ceremonies is that most institutions are having them physically, a routine which was disturbed by the COVID-19 pandemic. “It is also pleasing to note that our institutions have been observing all the COVID-19 guidelines.
Minister Nzimande says that the majority of undergraduate students who completed their qualifications have been funded by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), whilst some of the postgraduate students have been supported by the National Research Foundation (NRF). This illustrates that government is determined to significantly change the lives of the children of the working class and the poor for the better, by making sure that they are given the same opportunities to succeed.
Minister Nzimande further said, whilst he is yet to receive a report from the Ministerial Task Team on the establishment of the Comprehensive Student Funding model for the Post School Education and Training, government remains firmly committed to financially support students from poor and working-class backgrounds, whilst also putting a sustainable mechanism in place to support students from the so-called ‘missing middle’ and postgraduate students.
“In the 2022/23 financial year, NSFAS will be spending R48.968.052 billion to fund students from the poor and the working class. Our total departmental budget for scholarships and bursaries for the financial year 2022/23 is R865.731.188.40, which is made up of National Skills Fund (NSF) R220. 584 340.00, National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) R527 238 000.00, Department of Agriculture, land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) R241 165.5000.00 and the DHET Internal Scholarship to the value of R37 908. 848.40,” said Minister Nzimande.
The Minister said collectively SETAs spent R701 881 360.16 in support of the missing middle students in the 2021/2022 financial year, and this year the SETAs we will be spending R1 003 381 308.48.
ON UKZN DUMISANI NGOBESE
Minister Nzimande congratulates Dumisani Ngobese for having completed his degree under difficult circumstances and in the process his story touched millions of South Africans. Dumisani Ngobese is one of the many students from the poor and the working-class families who are NSFAS beneficiaries.
This goes to show the enormous difference made by NSFAS in the lives of the poor and the working class of our country.
“Dumisani experiences should serve as inspiration to all students, particularly from the poor families that they also have an opportunity to succeed in their studies and be employed or self-employed,” said Minister Nzimande.
ON THE ALLEGED RACIST INCIDENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF STELLENBOSCH
Minister Nzimande condemns in the strongest terms what clearly appears to be a blatantly racist act, where a white student committed an egregious act against the dignity and person of a fellow black student at the Stellenbosch University’s Huis Marias student residence. This incident was captured in video footage in circulation on social media. The Minister welcomes the swift action taken by the University to suspend the perpetrator of this shameful and de-humanizing act against another student and urges the University to take the strongest action to ensure that the university does not provide sanctuary to any racists. There is no place for such behaviour or persons at our universities.
The Minister expects a report from the University following the disciplinary hearing which is scheduled to take place on Friday, the 20th May 2022. Minister Nzimande furthermore directed that Higher Health work together with the University to provide the necessary support and comfort to the affected student to ensure that the student is not further violated further. On the broader scale, the Minister calls upon the university to ensure that it firmly enforces a zero-tolerance policy to guarantee that it provides no sanctuary to racists and ensures that the university is a safe space for all its students and staff.
The Minister further asserts that the incident, like similar past incidents, point to a fundamental question about the continued persistence of oppressive social structures in parts of South African society that fosters a disposition in which a young person endows himself the right to behave in the most egregrious and abominable racist manner against a fellow human being. If it is the case that no person is born racist, as former State President Nelson Mandela correctly argued, where does such behaviour stem from?
CONGRATULATIONS TO PROF ZEBLON VILAKAZI
Minister Nzimande joins the entire South African Post School Education and Training (PSET) sector in congratulating Professor Zeblon Vilakazi for having been honoured at the highest academic level by the Royal Society UK. Being invited to becoming a fellow at the society, Prof Vilakazi, who is a renowned nuclear physicist, joins the ranks of luminaries such as Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, Dorothy Hodgkin and Stephen Hawking.
Minister Nzimande said Prof Vilakazi earned this honour against the background and context of humble beginnings and with huge personal commitment and sacrifices to rise to the top of the scientific and academic establishment. Amongst his contributions, he was instrumental in establishing South Africa’s first experimental high-energy physics research group in 1999 at the University of Cape Town. “He indeed laid a solid foundation for the current successes of high energy physics as a discipline in South Africa and elsewhere,” said Minister Nzimande.
“Prof Vilakazi successes are a reflection of the role of the South African PSET and our National System of Innovation to bring out the best of South Africa’s genius and capacity to contribute to the stock of knowledge of the world,” said Minister Nzimande.
The Minister expends his appreciation to the University of the Witwatersrand and all those who supported Prof Vilakazi in his professional, academic and social journey.
Enquiries: Ishmael Mnisi 0660378859
