Working towards solution to higher education crisis

OPPOSITION parties have met with Professor Adam Habib (Chairperson) and Dr Ahmed Bawa (CEO) of Universities South Africa (USAF), the association of South African University Vice-Chancellors and Rectors, to discuss the crisis in higher education.

In a media statement, DA leader, Mmusi Maimane said weeks of protests, had resulted in police and security presence on campuses, significant destruction of learning infrastructure, arson and vandalism which had left a total of 16 Universities closed, with a further 6 tenuously remaining open with just four Universities fully open.
“The underlying cause is that Universities have all suffered serious budget cuts over the years as State subsidies have declined. They have sought to make up for lost government revenue through increasing fees over the period, but this model has now reached a level of unsustainability which has caused the emergency we face,” he said.

“Universities closed would create untold damage to students, to future students, and to the future workforce. “If this year’s graduates cannot complete their courses and graduate, no new doctors, accountants, engineers or lawyers will enter the workforce. And if Universities remain closed, no matriculants will be able to enter further study next year,” he said.
Opposition parties agreed that:

• Classes resume. If the academic year is not completed it will negatively impact admissions for next year and new graduates entering the workplace;
• The commitment by the Fees Commission to release an interim report in November;
• Parliament must take the necessary steps to ensure there is a budget reallocation to adequately fund universities and students.
• The state is, ideally, the right body to ensure that no poor student who obtains a University place should be turned away on financial grounds alone;
• Attempts by some students to achieve this end through violence, disruption, vandalism and arson deserves strong condemnation;
• It is vital that Universities be reopened as soon as humanly possible, and that this is the wish of the vast majority of students;
• The training of police and private security in the maintenance of public order policing must be reviewed to ensure they act within the parameters of the law.

“It must be stressed that Parliament has a profound role to play in the ongoing higher education crisis, given its ability to not only approve budgets but also to adjust budgets in order to adapt to developments of national importance. Any long term solution must include a fundamental restructuring of the mechanisms through which University annual subsidies are determined and sustained over time,” he said