Universities will receive R3,6-billion in government money for increasing graduates and improving infrastructure following a finding in 2004 that subsidy levels have been declining, Education Minister Naledi Pandor said in Cape Town on Tuesday.
”With the changes we will see improved resources that should place universities in a situation where any fee increase should be at a reasonable level,” she told a media briefing in Parliament.
A total of R439-million would go to the universities of Pretoria, KwaZulu-Natal, Stellenbosch and the Witwatersrand to increase graduates in engineering degrees.
A total of R783-million had been allocated to increasing graduates in sector education and training programmes at 10 universities. Fourteen universities would get R2,1-billion to improve infrastructure and the quality of teaching. This would cover 2008 to 2010. R248-million still had to be allocated.
She emphasised that fees were here to stay and that there wasn’t ”a university in the world” that was able to meet its costs from subsidies alone.
”Countries of our level of economic development really would never be able to afford free higher education.”
She said the no-fee schools system had to be improved to reach the target of 60% of schools being free, from the current 40%.
”I have said to all [provincial ministers] to make sure they have the cash flow [to the schools], but sadly the directive has not been followed by all the provinces.”
Pandor said the system would be revived and made clearer in law.
”We can’t have schools held hostage to the inefficiency of national administration.” — Sapa