High levels of inequality mean that free higher education will proportionally benefit the privileged‚ the Fees Commission heard on Thursday.
“If you give subsidies for free higher education‚ subsidies will go to rich people‚” Centre for Higher Education Trust director Noco Cloete said.
He said the problem was that the poor people do not qualify for higher education in large numbers.
“It is the middle class which go to the university‚” Cloete said.
Cloete said the challenge for government was to improve the basic education system.
He said the undergraduate university system was inefficient‚ unsustainable and needed to be restructured.
Cloete said of the 1-million children who enter Grade 1‚ only 100 000 will enter university‚ and 53 000 will graduate after six years.
“In the undergraduate system‚ only 30% graduate in three years and 56% graduate in five years. We also find there are more undergraduate students who should not have been there‚” Cloete said.
“We have an expanding undergraduate system but low graduation rates.”
Cloete said there must be a much larger range of reputable post-matric alternatives such as technical vocational education and training (TVET) colleges and internships‚ so that university was not the only path out of poverty.
“If this pressure is not relieved it will destabilise the whole university system.”
Cloete said what vocational education addressed inequality better than the university education.
The commission‚ chaired by Judge Jonathan Heher‚ was established in January to inquire into‚ report on and make recommendations on the feasibility of a fee-free higher education and training in South Africa.
President Jacob Zuma appointed the commission following protests by university students last year against the high costs of university education.
Free higher education will favour the privileged‚ Fees Commission hears
“If you give subsidies for free higher education‚ subsidies will go to rich people‚” Centre for Higher Education Trust director Noco Cloete said.
He said the problem was that the poor people do not qualify for higher education in large numbers.
“It is the middle class which go to the university‚” Cloete said.
Cloete said the challenge for government was to improve the basic education system.
He said the undergraduate university system was inefficient‚ unsustainable and needed to be restructured.
Cloete said of the 1-million children who enter Grade 1‚ only 100 000 will enter university‚ and 53 000 will graduate after six years.
“In the undergraduate system‚ only 30% graduate in three years and 56% graduate in five years. We also find there are more undergraduate students who should not have been there‚” Cloete said.
“We have an expanding undergraduate system but low graduation rates.”
Cloete said there must be a much larger range of reputable post-matric alternatives such as technical vocational education and training (TVET) colleges and internships‚ so that university was not the only path out of poverty.
“If this pressure is not relieved it will destabilise the whole university system.”
Cloete said what vocational education addressed inequality better than the university education.
The commission‚ chaired by Judge Jonathan Heher‚ was established in January to inquire into‚ report on and make recommendations on the feasibility of a fee-free higher education and training in South Africa.
President Jacob Zuma appointed the commission following protests by university students last year against the high costs of university education.
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