The Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Dr Blade Nzimande expressed concern about the impact that student debt will have on the future of the sustainability of higher education institutions in the country.
Nzimande announced that as of January 2023, the student debt at higher education institutions is standing at more than R16.5 billion.
The South African Student Congress (SASCO) has called on the private sector to play a bigger role in contributing towards student debt as they believe that the government is unable to do this alone.
SASCO stated:
We think that the government must find ways to reduce the student debt and at the same time the private sector must be encouraged to play a critical role in that regard.
The union says that an investigation must be launched into the amount of the student debt as they believe that universities and colleges may be inflating this amount.
SASCO wants to see a paper trail of the amount that the private sector has contributed to higher education and they say this is not possible when companies are contributing funds individually.
They are calling for the government to create one centre through which funds are distributed so that they can keep track of how the individual companies and departments are contributing money towards education.
Minister Nzimande has said that in order to address student debt his department is developing a new comprehensive funding model and finalizing a funding scheme to address those who form part of the missing middle.
