Joshua Amupadhi and Jacquie Golding-Duffy
UNIVERSITIES and technikons discovered this week just how harshly the government has slashed their funding for 1997, with a string of institutions facing severe and damaging cutbacks.
Universities including Wits, Pretoria, Natal, Transkei, Rhodes and the Orange Free State complained their government funding has been cut to “even much lower levels” than they had anticipated.
The Education Department has been attempting to reverse the long-term decline in government subsidies to underpin efforts to widen enrolment. But it has already warned that its 1997 budget – devoted almost entirely to tertiary education – is under pressure, which could stymie the transformation programme.
Department officials said this week the government’s final decision on the budget would be made next month, when the “provisional allocations will be adjusted”.
Wits is facing a R36-million cut, down 9% to 12% on its subsidy for 1996, while Pretoria’s subsidy is to fall R43-million, a 7% drop against the 4% cut it had expected. Representatives at both universities said funds allocated for bursaries and loans would be worst hit.
Wits representative David Williams said: “The cutbacks came at such short notice. A university this size spends the whole year preparing the budget, and such financial cutbacks make it difficult to find the money from other sources.”
Pretoria University representative Mike Smuts said it would be left with no money for maintenance and replacement costs.
Rhodes University will suffer a R8,9-million cutback from last year’s subsidy. “This is a huge drop in government support at a time when tertiary institutions are under pressure to produce more and better graduates,” said Dr David Woods, vice- chancellor.
University of Transkei suffered a 50% cutback, which amounts to at least R9- million. “We may be a small university, but such a drastic cutback will cause irreparable damage,” a representative said.
Orange Free State had expected a cut of R8- million, but was told it would have to cope with a R24-million drop.
University of Natal faces a R28-million cut – a 10% drop. “These cuts are absurd as they will force us to rationalise and jeopardise the quality of students,” vice-chancellor Professor David Maughan-Brown said.
The South African Students’ Congress (Sasco) warned the subsidy cuts would lead to crisis on campuses and “make confrontation inevitable”.