/ 20 February 2009

Government beefs up funding

Tuition fee increases at most of South Africa's 23 public higher education institutions have been kept below 10% or did not increase at all this year.

Tuition fee increases at most of South Africa’s 23 public higher education institutions have been kept below 10% or did not increase at all this year because of an allocation of R337,7-million from the department of education.

This allocation came over and above the block grants or subsidies these institutions received late last year and is being used to offset inflation-related fee increases and to improve the salaries of academics.

Universities have been under pressure from Education Minister Naledi Pandor and students to cap their fee increases to broaden access to higher education.

Deputy director general of higher education Dr Molapo Qhobela said the R337,7-million is being made available for inflationary increases to the block grant for the higher education sector for 2008.

“All universities were awarded a pro-rata distribution of this amount,” he said.

He said Pandor advised institutions to allocate the funds to neglected areas such as HIV/Aids and libraries instead of relying on their income from student fees.

“Institutions were also asked to report to the education department on whether the additional funding prompted any changes in student fees proposed for 2009. The minister’s view was that the affordability of higher education for the student was absolutely paramount,” Qhobela said.

Several universities have been able to keep their fee increases below inflation this year. But Henk Kriek, deputy vice-chancellor of finance at the University of Johannesburg, warned that fee increases below inflation cannot be sustained in the long term without ongoing compensation from other sources to make up for the shortfall.

Walter Sisulu University has dropped its fee increase from 11% to 9%, whereas Rhodes University’s proposal for a 13% increase was reduced to 8,5% as it received R4-million. Tshwane University of Technology, which has been racked by staff strikes over salary increases, now has a fee reduction from 10% to 9%, as it received R28-million. North West University is implementing an across-the-board increase of 9% on three campuses, against its initial 13% fee increase on the Mafikeng campus, although R10-million is to be used for bursaries.

Qhobela said the extra money could be used to increase the salaries of staff, but not that of executives.

These allocations are coupled with Finance Minister Trevor Manuel’s announcement that an extra R700-million will be allocated to higher education in the medium-term expenditure framework to cater for anticipated student growth. According to Manuel’s budget, universities will receive a 10,8% increase. Apart from this increased subsidisation, universities have received capital injections for infrastructure development and to boost graduate outputs after years of a decline in subsidies.

Derrick Swartz, vice-chancellor of Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, said: “We’re seeing the beginning of a turnaround in the subsidisation of universities and this started a year ago. If it is sustained in the next decade, the sector will respond to national imperatives for research and graduate outputs.”

Swartz said the R337-million is “significant but not yet optimal” as it is not sufficient to improve the conditions of service of staff.

Academic salaries have been comparatively low compared with those in the corporate sector, although an exodus of staff from various disciplines has raised alarm bells for government to intervene.

John Pampallis of the Centre for Education Policy Development said: “Let’s hope this [increase in government subsidisation] is going to continue. It looks as if government is committed to beefing up higher education.

“The issue of fees causes disruptions every year and the actions of the students may have helped boost allocations. I’m hoping that these increases to academic salaries are just the beginning.”

South African Students’ Congress president Mawethu Rune said the R337-million was a “welcome relief” and “universities ought to keep fee increases to a minimum”.