Minister Nzimande statement on progress in dealing with student protests in some of the universities and TVET Colleges
The Minister of Education, Science and Technology, Dr Blade Nzimande met with the South African Union of Students (SAUS) on Friday, 31st January 2020 to further discuss matters raised by SAUS that were responded to by the Minister on 26 January 2020.
Prior to SAUS meeting, Minister Nzimande initiated and held briefing sessions with a variety of stakeholders to brief them about our state of readiness for the 2020 academic year on the 21st January 2020. On the 3rd March 2020, Minister Nzimande also tabled a Ministerial Statement in Parliament on the beginning of the 2020 academic year.
It is in the meeting with the South African Union of Students (SAUS), which represents all SRC of Universities, where SAUS agreed to call off the national shutdown with immediate effect in the wake of the common understanding and agreements reached in the meeting.
The meeting was attended by representatives of Universities South Africa (USAf), SAUS and the university and TVET branch of the Department of Higher Education.
At the conclusion of this meeting, the Minister further urged all institutions to ensure that all matters agreed to are implemented without further delays.
Of importance, was the need for all role players to work together to identify problems and seek to resolve them timeously and at an institutional level.
The following are amongst other broad agreements concluded to guide institutions during and post- registration period:
All NSFAS students with debt can register, providing they sign the Acknowledgement of Debt form and they meet the academic requirements for continued funding.
All NSFAS-qualifying students are able to register for the academic year without making upfront payments.
There is a mechanism in place, agreed between NSFAS and institutions, to assess financial eligibility of students who obtain a place and register for an approved programme, but have not applied to NSFAS, to be allowed to register, while the NSFAS assessment is underway.
Amongst others, the following matters are agreed as critical for further discussion in the system:
The matter of post-graduate funding, and in particular students who are NSFAS recipients wishing to immediately continue to postgraduate studies.
The matter of student debt in the system for non-NSFAS-qualifying students.
The matter of the dearth of funding for “missing middle” students, those who do not qualify for NSFAS, but struggle to afford higher education fees.
One of the critical issues emphasised by USAf is that all universities have processes in place to assist missing middle students with debt so that they can register.
USAf agreed to consult further with universities about their registration and debt management policies, to assess whether more flexible approaches may be possible within the registration process for the academic year 2020.
It is upon this broad framework that the 2020 registration period was to be handled.
In the midst of all these consultations and agreement, Minister Nzimande continued to engage student leadership and management to assist with customised solutions without taking over the role of council, management or student representatives.
Most of these engagements took place outside the purview of the media in order to allow institutional governance structure to exercise their responsibilities.
The Department of Higher Education University and TVET College branches and the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) are in constant consultation with all institutions, assisting them to deal will all areas of concerns.
Furthermore, NSFAS has transferred more than R4.2 billion to all the 26 Universities in upfront payment to aid students further with Accommodation and Transport allowances pending the submission of registration data.
An amount of over R7.14 million was paid to TVETs in upfront tuition and allowances.
In facilitating engagements in institutions where there were flare-ups of protests, Minister Nzimande engaged with the following universities:
University of Fort Hare (UFR)
Minister Nzimande engaged with both the management and SRC of the university separately. There was a general agreement by both the parties to recommit to urgent further engagements on the challenges at the institution, particularly in relation to the reported academic and financial exclusions of students and the closure of the university. Both sides underlined the importance of normalizing the situation. Management committed to updating the Minister on a regular basis on progress towards normalizing the situation.
University of Zululand (UNIZULU)
Minister Nzimande confirms receipt of the joint memorandum of Demands to the Department from student formations (SASCO, YCL, ANCYL, and EFFSC) at UNIZULU. The Minister is in contact with the Chairperson of Council on the situation. The Department will respond to the memorandum of students as submitted.
University of KwaZulu Natal (UKZN)
The university is fully operational, with registration continuing without any disruptions and was expected to conclude on Friday, 6th March 2020.
Minister Nzimande continues to monitor the developing situation at the Cape Town Peninsula University of Technology, the University of Zululand, Tshwane University of Technology, Fort Hare University, Walter Sisulu University of Technology (WSU) and some affected TVET Colleges.
However, Minister Nzimande appreciates the fact that the majority of institutions have already begun teaching and learning.
Whilst there is recommitment to further negotiations at all our PSET institutions, Minister Nzimande calls-upon students to fully cooperate and allow the registration and orientation processes to continue peacefully, so that the 2020 academic year can start without any further delays.
Minister Nzimande also calls upon USAf and the South African College Principals’ Organisation (SACPO) to ensure all institutions urgently implement mechanisms agreed between NSFAS and institutions to assess financial eligibility of students and also to develop mechanism of categorising all students who owe the institutions.
Minister Nzimande is grateful to all the stakeholders in KwaZulu Natal and the Eastern Cape provincial governments for the assistance that they provided to bring stability in the affected institutions.
Minister Nzimande calls upon political formations to refrain from turning students concerns into political opportunism and maneuvering.
Enquiries:
Ishmael Mnisi
Cell: 066 037 8859
E-mail: Ishmael.Mnisi@dst.gov.za
