Committee welcomes increased allocation for higher education

Thursday, October 27, 2016

Pretoria - The Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training has welcomed the increased allocation for the higher education portfolio, which was announced by the Minister of Finance in his Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) on Wednesday.

The chairperson of the committee, Connie September, said the announcement is affirmation that government is on the right path and committed to increase access to higher education, especially for the poor.

“The increased funding means many poor students will be able to access quality higher education without having to worry about being financially excluded. Poor students and those categories, such as the missing middle, will not be paying fee increases and will benefit immensely,” September said.

Minister Gordhan said universities and students will receive an additional R17 billion -- R9 billion for the National Student Financial Aid Scheme over the period ahead and over R8 billion to meet the costs of fee increases for students from households with incomes up to R600 000. – SAnews.gov.za