Flawed ideas of free of charge elevated education

On Saturday, 17 October 2015, together with a wide range of stakeholders in the higher education and training in South Africa Higher Education Summit organized by the Department of Higher Education issued a statement about the transformation of Durban. After a major transformation in the profit statement listing the seven problems that need to be resolved.

Unspecified initiatives "related to the financial and debt, fee structures, and the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, or NSFAS should be strengthened in relation to the first three. of the leading players in each of the seven and nine medium-term resolutions statement concluded by calling for an annual report on progress.

Tuesday, October 20, Eyewitness News "SA varsities brought to a halt," the title of students report that intimated.

On Wednesday, October 21, after the Times Live title "Students storm the parliament", shouting: ". When you enter the doors of hundreds of students protesting against increased student fees for the first time in the parliamentary precinct were fired stun grenades"

"We will have an increase of 0% in 2016, the university fees, agreed: Friday, October 23, Times Live President Jacob Zama, after meeting with student leaders and university officials, a media conference at the Union Buildings in Pretoria."

The post-1994 campaign in South Africa was the largest and most impressive.

non-party-aligned strategy, social media campaign of insults and hope no formal leadership Networks Manuel Cast ells, is quite similar to how the Internet age, social movements, described the new forms of social movements - in the US than in Spain and the Occupy Wall Street movement Insignias' Arab Spring '.

Several student leaders should be read Cast ells imagines, and he will be very impressed with them.

Unfortunately, students and wealth inequality in the twenty-first century, Thomas Piety, 2014 Capital was reading a book that does not appear.

Free higher education benefits the rich

and student media spokespeople and effortlessly slip free higher education for all, '' free higher education for the poor ", and slide it across. These two vastly different concepts.

"Good idea, free higher education, and where the money will come?" The short answer: contact me for an opinion journalists and talk show hosts, they always ask, "No, you do not have enough money in any country is the development of free higher education."

The richest and most developed countries in Europe - - but no samples from Africa or Latin America, they are usually referring to Norway, Finland and Germany.

As far as I know, after the restoration of independence, offering free education in all of the African countries, the flagship public university. His 2008 book Market Place Scientists: Miserere University dilemmas of neo-liberal reforms, Mahmud Mandeni describes it eloquently:

"... Education, board, health insurance, transportation and personal needs ... It was not unusual for a student to cover even a" boon "to the goal of a full scholarship to train a small elite of the society, according to the extraordinary privilege."

Two consequences of this generosity was the elite.

Free during the day, evening and private fee-paying students of state universities: Miserere University staff cannot afford the time first; it has introduced a two-tier system. By 2008, Mandeni no devaluation of higher education research as a form of low-level training Miserere this 'commercialization' show.

The second result of the national currency and lower the exorbitant fees charged for international qualifications at no cost to low-quality private universities, was a mushrooming.

Who has access to a full scholarship flagship university? They had gone to the top domestic and international business and political elite of the child. A few extraordinarily talented poor students have access to free higher education. Paid non-university institutions (if they are lucky) the rest of the low-quality, poor schools, that ended.

An economist in a more technical point of view, from the University of Cape Town Sean Archer argues that free higher education regressive society into the rich subsidizing the poor members.

Sometimes, more often intentionally and unintentionally, but Piety is a classic example of state policy, the privilege of the elite - This is the story of free education in Africa and Latin America.

Why do we have a pro-poor policies in South Africa under the banner of arrogant elite are benefits.

Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 2004 article, "Higher education funding" in the OECD countries, even the state universities Nicholas Barr consistently lower or no access to education by providing more educational opportunities than the right to equality are pointed out.

Public universities, middle and high-income families the subsidy accrues to the students, because Barr says, so the mind is not right.

Who does not deliver?

Initially, the students a higher fee to blame for the crisis. Instead of taking the students to join the protests, and the government headquarters, the vice-chancellors were caught between the students and the state.

But Friday, October 23, students in Pretoria and the African National Congress, or ANC, went to the headquarters of the government.

ANC secretary general Geed Manta she should be given more power to regulate higher education in the state, and it was the result of a strong parliament to protest the actions of the vice-chancellors of criticism, asserting that he has the full support of the demands of the ANC.

The government's contribution to the inadequate

Empirical evidence shows that the government - and therefore the ANC - was not to blame.

The following graph shows the government's contribution increased by 33% from R15-R78 billion to R178 billion (US $ 562 million) more than doubled in 13 years to balance the rights of the universities ,. 9 billion to R212 billion.

A university almost doubled in the third revenue stream was good, but clearly government grants, student fees are used to offset a 9% drop.



The state's contribution to higher education in international comparisons of gross domestic product, or GDP, a percentage that is allocated. South Africa, in 2015-16 to 0.72% from 0.68% in 2004-05 were different.

2012 data, the ratio of GDP for Brazil, Senegal and Ghana 1.4%, Norway and Finland, 4.5% more than 2% and 0.95% of Cuba.

South Africa R30 billion higher education budget for 2015-16. The government had to spend 1% of GDP on higher education, it will amount to R41 billion - an additional R11 billion and almost four times due to the lack of growth of 0%.

NSFAS decapitating

The first phase in 1990, the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, or NSFAS, a student grant and loan scheme and was impressed by a number of countries studied. Nicholas Barr several successful student financial aid schemes in developing countries have signaled that.

As the scheme grew, the head office in 2008, there was a particular problem in some higher office.

They are in the middle and a review of the implementation of the turnaround strategy, despite the NSFAS in 2009, higher education and training, or DHET after the creation of the Department of Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nimadi told board members all resigned.

He approached the new CEO DHET Minister wanted to provide free higher education and the need to appoint experts to implement it, how Floyd Shivambu was asked to resign because, at that time a member of the Board of Directors, has described.

What the minister - the leader of the South African Communist Party - with no experience in this area has really made a member of the Communist Party. This was followed by a cleaning people with skills; Some senior staff member NSFAS and "de-professionalization" of volunteers for what was described as the left had to leave.

Nimadi drop dramatically as a result of the credit recovery, reduced its authority to collect the debt, took a blow when the NSFAS - R248 million in 2014-15 - a height of R638 million in the 2010-11 year was the new "experts" DHET paper prepared by the National Higher Education Summit .

At the same time, however, he dramatically in 2014 and R15 billion to R39 billion in 2010, up NSFAS funding available for the combination of de-capacitating the organization with the flood of new money to reduce its debt collection powers "Bad Business Management 101 "means.

In May 2015, Nimadi announced NSFAS and the Treasury is considering an investigation into corruption.

The lack of political leadership to lead the transformation logic that supports this kind of attitude, that's your problem. the appointment of party cadres with the right policy tool, but it ignored the importance of the experience to implement progressive policies.

Dysfunctional organizations can implement progressive policies. So the transformation of the organizational climate to encourage more corruption.

The lack of financial analysis skills DHET

In 2009, the same logic and strategy to support the reconstruction of the NSFAS has been applied to the formation of a new DHET. In a variety of senior positions filled according to party affiliation more specific expertise.

Important minister and his adviser were associated with high-skill positions in the university sector was not a well-known NGO with expertise or experience. Apart muddled green and white papers, and since 2001 no new national plan for higher education that has been of particular concern in financial management.

The looming financial crisis and other things, because of the lack of experience in financial analysis within DHET not acted upon.

financial reporting, accounting professor's words, "broken" means. This does not accurately reflect the financial position of the institutions nor does their financial health not allow for diagnostic analysis. Institutions are clear an indicator of the financial crisis is heading for a report on the system, or can be restored to the exact opposite of student debt and the debt ratio does not have a real appreciation.

Typically, the low capacity of the government department, DHET now have the ability to analyze the annual reports of the universities, two times a year to prepare financial statements that offer.

Universities in South Africa and its activists' stance

In July 2015, the South African Universities Vice-chancellors of South Africa in his opening statement to announce their association, Higher Education South Africa, or the account again:

"We have enough issues and problems facing higher consensus behind us, we are more consultative and outside the university sector and the interests of various constituencies and to be more comprehensive. We are adopting a more active position."

If you have any problem with that statement signals relaunches organization and the words "consensus" and "activism" is illuminating.

For years, the organizations are deeply historically and more recently in favor of the traditional divide between universities and universities of technology were among the historically-disadvantaged. Access to resources, differentiation response and the government on the budget, the elimination of all issues.

In a report dated February 2008, HESA expressed support for self-regulation and raised the following issues, among others, the government proposals on regulating fees protest:

• Setting limits on the rights of individual autonomy and flexibility in higher education institutions will have a negative impact.
• Capping tuition is not necessarily improve access of the poor, but instead of becoming rich in higher education can lead to.
• capping mechanism will prevent institutional differentiation, and will develop an active institutional homogenization.

President Zama of South Africa, President of Universities that have 0% fee increase, announced on October 23, 2015, when he was with.

Universities in South Africa is supported by the Committee of Ministers for consideration to the funding of the 2013 University Report, the quality would suffer and universities will not be able to cross-subsidize students with financial need, are not subject to capping fees recommended by the university funded through student scholarships.

In 2011, more than R1 billion in totals financial aid scholarships to undergraduate and graduate students of universities that have been shown. The funds from the trust funds, donor funding, etc., are used for scholarships as well as student fee revenue.

If the fees are capped at 478,194 students in undergraduate and graduate student funding, universities in the cross-subsidy cannot continue this practice in 2011 and since 2007 has been helping higher.

The government (national treasure), DHET, NSFAS and Universities in South Africa - - just to develop this problem, but no one ready or able to take the lead in solving what appears to be clear that the right of the main actors in the crisis that problem.

A different fees 'War Room'

Higher Education South African Airways, the power of state-owned companies such as Eskom or Petro’s will not be like that, what can we do? There is no money available for higher education is part of the reason for their multi-billion rand bailouts.

Perhaps Eskom electricity shortage crisis provides some pointers. A 'War Room' ministries, businessmen, academics and a few representatives of a number of countries established by the Vice-President Cyril Ramaphosa.

The goal is to get the lights back on, but it was only a sustainable strategy. Ramaphosa is not familiar with the financing of higher education: higher financial DHET he was involved in the 2014 review.

Higher education is an issue for such a war room can be quite simple, but very hard to implement the policy - the gross domestic product of more than 1% compared to 0.7% and to increase higher education funding.

The government regulates the fees goes to the NSFAS, then cyclical bailout will be the way the system is an argument that there is a more complex task to get the extra money should go to university or directly to NSFAS.

The more complex and very difficult to implement it will be different fee system.

What is the easiest and moral defense of free higher education for the very poor - for example, an annual income below R120000.

No high graduate employment schemes in the developing world depend on the success of the loan because the loans for this group, and we know that there is a failure and the master of unemployment among the poor. In addition, according to Barr, it is very difficult to collect taxes and borrow a lot of work in the formal sector are poor.

In the exercise, the morale is very complex and is not protected, the rich should pay more. The children of veterans of the anti-apartheid struggle that went with posters demanding free higher education, though commendable, they must be held on the second poster: ". We will pay more"

R1 million assumes that the annual income of a family, then pay the R80000 - NSFAS estimates average annual total fees and living expenses - will be less than 10% of their income. The students went to the United Kingdom or the United States, they would have to pay three to five times more.

Piety through the lens of the world's most unequal countries, rich in higher education for almost free, there is perhaps not surprising.

The average loss

So far, the most complex group of insiders NSFAS 'missing middle "and Argus" student financial aid is not enough for the poor "in the November 2 article," referred to as the gap is to call their families. Students in this group are not eligible for NSFAS funding and the lower end of the middle class do not have to bank loans easily.

Argus is a teacher, a mother, a media officer and expensive universities and higher education institutions in Cape Town between two girls described as a middle-class family consisting of a father. Bracken fell months of living expenses in the vicinity of the lower middle class that is organized around R17000, R20000 their combined income - it creates a fun and educational for the R3000.

not just - a lot - not only unaffordable but also get financial help from their two children are considered to be of higher education in the article. It was one-child policy in China; The middle group, if you have many children in South Africa, but only one of the university.

Matthew Lester, a tax professor at Rhodes University, this "beyond the means of most South African households earn more than R500000 university education every year for the rest of the half-million South Africans are very favorable," he said.

South Africa's rich, poor, gifted to bargain with the financial assistance for higher education affordable, but the average is heading to South Africa for one of the two scenarios, then there is missing: Piety points out, the type of the Arab Spring uprisings or, more seriously, a French-style revolution .

'Missing middle "is just the backbone of higher education in the world, but also an efficient and well-educated middle class is the glue that holds society together.

"Free Higher Education 'appeal to mobilize the revolutionary sounds and" cry "means. But this is a developing country empirical and moral, material error - at the different costs for different groups in society, which means a clear - poster" Affordable higher education for all "must-read.

Nice Colette Africa, Hearn Higher Education Research and Advocacy Network director and coordinator of the Center for Higher Education Trust; Oslo, Norway, a guest professor at the University; Post-School Research Institute at the University of Western Cape in South Africa unusual professor; Scientometrics and Stellenbosch University and the Science, Technology and Innovation Policy DST-NRF Centre of Excellence, a professor of emergency in South Africa.