Why #FeesMustFall Matters

The nation-wide protests in South Africa were sparked by a widely publicised 3-day lock down between students and administrative staff at WITS in Johannesburg, after the university announced a 10,5% increase in tuition fees for 2016.

But the movement soon became the voice of a broader context — the continuing inequalities in post-Apartheid South Africa, where access to education is still a privilege, rather than a freedom; where breaking the cycle of poverty is still grossly out of reach for far too many. As with many developing countries, the demand for education and access to public resources in SA is growing faster than the government has the ability, or willingness, to provide.

South Africa has responded to the mismatch between available public resources and growing demand for tertiary education by increasing cost sharing between fee-paying students, government and private funding. But a private report into Tertiary Education Financing in 2006 rightly suggests that new and improved mechanisms are needed globally; both for funding institutions and the funding of students. Current solutions range from traditional finance modelling to innovative budget reallocations, but stop short of true disruption of soaring fees.

In the case of WITS, a 22% crash in the Rand-Dollar exchange rate (substantially affecting the costs of electronic equipment, licensing fees and library resources), 7% inflation-related salary increases and a continued lack of government support were just some of the reasons cited for the fee hike.

The sit-in between students and staff at WITS resulted in a concession to suspend fee increases until more constructive negotiations could be entered into.

But … with less than 1% of the South African GDP allocated to tertiary education across the country, similar exchange rates and inflation facing all institutions; the Johannesburg students were soon joined by their counterparts around the country.

The hashtag #feesmustfall quickly became a trending conversation on social media.

Two days after the WITS protests, news broke that similar protests were starting at Rhodes University in the Eastern Cape and UCT in Cape Town. Soon, as many as 14 campuses across the country were in lock down, as students collectively opposed steep fee increases that had become accepted as norm in previous years.

The conversations included further fee complexities — such as the Minimum Initial Payment (MIP) structure. MIP is a portion of the student fees that must be paid up front before registration is confirmed, and is often set as high as 50% of the annual tuition fees. Depending on courses being studied, this lump sum is well over 20,000 ZAR (about 1,500 USD) and often as high as 45,000 ZAR (over 3,000 USD).

According to an urban policies working paper (WIEGO study) in 2009, approximately 40% of South Africa’s adult population are informally employed or self-employed … of which less than 4% currently have tertiary education. With annual earnings of less than R7,500 per month (R97k gross per year, or less than 5,000 USD), these individuals are unlikely to ever meet rising student fees and less likely to break the cycle of poverty.

The MIP represents not just half of the year’s tuition fees, but often half of a family’s shared income annually, which creates yet another insurmountable barrier to entry for a huge number of students. Those who do get accepted into first year, are often forced to drop out in following years, when they are not able to meet the MIP requirement for subsequent courses.

Amidst the protests, when government and university representatives put forward a proposed 6% inflation-related cap on fee increases for 2016, protesters around the country were unbudged. They needed more.

On Friday, 23rd October, thousands of students were joined by solidarity marchers to meet outside the Union Buildings in Pretoria, in numbers reminiscent of Apartheid-era protests. After hours of talks behind closed doors, the government and a national committee of student and higher education representatives agreed to an increase freeze on all tertiary education fees for 2016.

From 10,5% to 0%.

A small victory was won in bridging the gap between rising costs and soaring demand in South Africa, but with annual tertiary education fees still higher than many are likely to ever afford, barriers to entry will remain for far too many.

Why do you think #FeesMustFall matters?

Kate Dold is the Head of Human Capital at ALU. She is a South African National and a graduate of Rhodes University.