Across the country, students have been in outrage for the past couple of weeks, wanting study fees to either stay as is, drop or fall away altogether. Yes, tertiary education is probably one of the most expensive investments you could ever make, but it is still an investment.
Should study fees fall? Should students have the opportunity to go to any university cost free? Many people are fighting for that very cause right now, and with good reason. Study fees are incredibly high, and those with the privilege of receiving a study loan will have to pay it off for many years after. I am one such person.
I was very lucky to receive a NSFAS bursary that covered the costs of my study fees, but is this enough? Definitely not! I sat down and made an account of all my expenditures through my three years at the NWU Potchefstroom campus. When I saw the result, it made me realise that I will probably have study debt for the rest of my life.
I can imagine that I am not the only graduate that feels like this. Maybe I spent too much and maybe I didn’t keep to my budget, but one thing is true: higher education IS a debt sentence.
I am one of the lucky ones that got a job as soon as I graduated but, with all my study debt,I’m not yet in the financial position to move out of my room in a student commune and finally get my own little place. I will probably have to drive around Potchefstroom on my scooter for a few more years because I cannot afford a car at all. These are just some of the things a working person would love to have, but since investing in my future gave me nearly R 100 000 worth of debt, I will have to live like a poor student for a few more years.
I do realise that it wouldn’t be possible to let every student in South Africa study for free at this moment in time, but I do think that there are steps that can be taken to allow more able-minded pupils to enter the world of higher education. So many bright minds go to waste because of poverty, and this must change.
The students of today are the future of this country and, if more and more matriculants end up on the street because they cannot afford to develop their minds, then this country has no future, 20 years from now!
My opinion on the matter is that people need to stop spending unnecessary funds on making life better here and now, and start to invest in the future of this country.
Higher education shouldn’t be a debt sentence, it should be an opportunity to change the future of an entire country.
