Pretoria - The Portfolio Committee on Higher Education has welcomed the swift intervention by the Department of Higher Education and Training to try end protests by students at several institutions of higher learning across the country.
Committee chairperson Ishmael Malale said there was hope that the recent financial injection of R1 billion into the National Students' Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) budget will finally bring stability to the learning and teaching environment.
“Education remains one of the key government priorities. However, this contribution is not to placate protesters but an expression of our determination of the progressive realisation of free quality higher education for the working class and the poor,” said Malale.
Last week, the department announced that is had made available an additional amount of R1 billion, sourced from the National Skills Fund, to all universities to cover the 2013 and 2014 shortfall.
Students embarked on violent protests at 10 universities against the shortage of funds in the scheme.
Malale urged the institutions to commit to improved throughput rates and for students to show a culture of learning, research and academic excellence.
He also slammed financial exclusions, which he said were used as a tool of debt recovery or a bait to fish for more resources from the state by some institutions.
Meanwhile, the committee will this week conduct oversight visits to various universities and FET colleges in the Eastern Cape.
The committee members will meet with various stakeholders, including management, labour unions and students’ representatives, where they will discuss financial assistance, registration, transformation and infrastructure, among others. – SAnews.gov.za
