For some people, the increase wouldn’t have made a difference to their parents’ bank balances, while for others it would have meant their dreams of getting a qualification would be crushed.
We live in an era where most young people are ambitious and getting a quality education is a priority in their lives and plans to advance in their chosen career fields.
It is unfortunate that some people can never have the experience of a tertiary education, not because they are not smart enough but because they simply cannot afford to.
My concern is that the rate of poverty and unemployment is increasing in most areas of South Africa, and if thousands of people cannot pay for higher education, how many more will there be in the next 10 years to come?
Excellent students with exceptional marks are still sitting at home because of no financial aid to further their studies.
This was the problem then and is still the problem now.
Fees may fall but that still won’t give those who are at the bottom of the food chain a chance to get an education.
For a child with unemployed parents and siblings who never received a tertiary education, the dream of being an engineer fades away every year, when fees increase and financial aid budgets decrease.
Education should be accessible to all.
Whether you are privileged or not, it should be one’s decisions whether they want to go further or not but circumstances should not prevent the youth from becoming future optometrists and gynaecologists.
I understand that higher education can never be entirely free because of the expenses that run to make a tertiary institution
operational.
The price of education should not determine who walks in the gates of a tertiary institution and who doesn’t.Everyone deserves a fair chance at educating themselves and acquiring knowledge.
I believe that free education may grant many families the opportunity to be financially free in future and break the cycle of poverty and illiteracy.
