{"id":30026,"date":"2020-03-08T10:00:31","date_gmt":"2020-03-08T10:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.englishforums.com\/news\/?p=30026"},"modified":"2020-03-08T10:00:31","modified_gmt":"2020-03-08T10:00:31","slug":"crisis-in-university-funding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/news\/crisis-in-university-funding\/","title":{"rendered":"Crisis in university funding: R200 billion too expensive for SA government"},"content":{"rendered":"

In<\/span> February<\/span> 2020<\/span>, Witwatersrand<\/span> vice<\/span>–chancellor<\/span> Adam<\/span> Habib<\/span> announced <\/span>to<\/span> step<\/span> down<\/span><\/a> amidst<\/span> a<\/span> crisis<\/span> in<\/span> university<\/span> funding<\/span>.<\/strong>
\nIn<\/span> a<\/span> flurry<\/span> of<\/span> social<\/span> media<\/span> posts<\/span>, the<\/span> university<\/span> don<\/span> says<\/span> that<\/span> institutions<\/span> will<\/span> escalate<\/span> into<\/span> protests<\/span> stemming<\/span> from<\/span> adverse<\/span> political<\/span> decisions<\/span>, inefficient<\/span> policy<\/span>, and<\/span> a<\/span> sham<\/span> promotion<\/span> system<\/span>.
\n<\/span>
\nHabib’s<\/span> outpour<\/span> comes<\/span> amid<\/span> historic<\/span> debt<\/span> protests<\/span> taking<\/span> place<\/span> in<\/span> the<\/span> whole<\/span> country<\/span> and<\/span> claims<\/span> that<\/span> the<\/span> National<\/span> Student<\/span> Financial<\/span> Aid<\/span> Scheme<\/span> (NSFAS<\/span>)had<\/span> not<\/span> been<\/span> disbursed<\/span>. Habib<\/span> reiterated<\/span> that<\/span> at<\/span> the<\/span> center<\/span> of<\/span> the<\/span> ongoing<\/span> protests<\/span> facing<\/span> universities<\/span> is<\/span> the crisis<\/span> in<\/span> university<\/span> funding.<\/span><\/p>\n

Accommodation<\/span> would<\/span> have<\/span> been<\/span> resolved with proper funding<\/span><\/h2>\n

In<\/span> his<\/span> tweets<\/span>, Adam<\/span> advised<\/span> that<\/span>\u00a0if<\/span> universities<\/span> were<\/span> properly<\/span> funded<\/span><\/a>, issues<\/span> like<\/span> accommodation<\/span> would<\/span> have<\/span> been<\/span> resolved<\/span>.
\nAfter<\/span> students<\/span> took<\/span> to<\/span> the<\/span> streets<\/span> to<\/span> protest<\/span> against<\/span> hiked<\/span> fees<\/span>, the<\/span> government<\/span> was<\/span> compelled<\/span> to<\/span> offer<\/span> grants<\/span> that<\/span> covered<\/span> tuition<\/span> and<\/span> accommodation<\/span> for<\/span> families<\/span> with<\/span> less<\/span> than<\/span> R350<\/span>,000<\/span> annual<\/span> income<\/span>.
\nThe<\/span> alternatives<\/span> would<\/span> have<\/span> been<\/span> bank<\/span> loans<\/span> or<\/span> comprehensive<\/span> grants<\/span> which<\/span> had<\/span> advantages<\/span> and<\/span> disadvantages<\/span>. One<\/span> of<\/span> the<\/span> looming<\/span> disadvantages<\/span> to<\/span> the<\/span> students<\/span> would<\/span> be<\/span> the<\/span> debt<\/span> incurred<\/span> by<\/span> the<\/span> students<\/span> after<\/span> employment<\/span>. The<\/span> grants<\/span> would<\/span> be<\/span> the<\/span> best<\/span> option<\/span> for<\/span> students<\/span> as<\/span> they<\/span> would<\/span> not<\/span> incur<\/span> any<\/span> debts<\/span>. However<\/span>, R200<\/span> billion<\/span> would<\/span> be<\/span> too<\/span> expensive<\/span> for<\/span> the<\/span> government<\/span> to<\/span> undertake<\/span>.
\nAdam<\/span> believes<\/span> the<\/span> grants<\/span> were<\/span> a<\/span> campaign<\/span> tool<\/span> to<\/span> lure<\/span> voters<\/span> from<\/span>\u00a0low-income\u00a0families, not as a solution to the crisis in university funding<\/span>.
\nOn<\/span> the<\/span> upside<\/span>, the<\/span> grants<\/span> would<\/span> ensure<\/span> that<\/span> students<\/span> were<\/span> debt-free\u00a0as<\/span> they<\/span> started<\/span> working<\/span> and<\/span> on<\/span> the<\/span> downside<\/span>, the<\/span> grant<\/span> would<\/span> only<\/span> cover<\/span> 50<\/span> percent<\/span> of<\/span> the<\/span> students<\/span> leaving<\/span> out<\/span> the<\/span> middle<\/span> students<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Crisis in university funding, the reason for students’ unrest<\/h2>\n

Habib<\/span> reiterated<\/span> that<\/span>\u00a0the<\/span> students<\/span> who<\/span> lack<\/span> funding<\/span> and<\/span> accommodation<\/span> are<\/span> the<\/span> reason<\/span> for<\/span> the<\/span> current<\/span> ensuing<\/span> protests<\/span> and<\/span> instability<\/span>. He<\/span> believes<\/span> the<\/span> solution<\/span> would<\/span> have<\/span> been<\/span> a<\/span> loan<\/span> scheme<\/span> that<\/span> covered<\/span> 100<\/span> percent<\/span> of<\/span> the<\/span> students to avert the crisis in university funding<\/span>.
\nFurthermore<\/span>, the<\/span> students<\/span> who<\/span> score<\/span> dismally<\/span> twice<\/span>, lose<\/span> their<\/span> score<\/span> and<\/span> are<\/span> unable<\/span> to<\/span> cover<\/span> their<\/span> overhead<\/span> costs<\/span>, hence<\/span> escalating<\/span> the<\/span> crisis<\/span> in<\/span> accommodation<\/span>. Habib<\/span> also<\/span> heaped<\/span> blame<\/span> on<\/span> the<\/span> police<\/span> urging<\/span> them<\/span> to<\/span> arrest<\/span> arsonists<\/span> who<\/span> destroy<\/span> property<\/span> in<\/span> the<\/span> institutions<\/span> of<\/span> higher<\/span> learning<\/span>.
\nIn<\/span> 2021<\/span>, Habib<\/span> is<\/span> expected<\/span> to<\/span> join<\/span> the<\/span> School<\/span> of<\/span> Oriental<\/span> and<\/span> African<\/span> Studies<\/span> in<\/span> London<\/span>.<\/strong>
\nFeature image credits: Pixabay<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In February 2020, Witwatersrand vice–chancellor Adam Habib announced to step down amidst a crisis in university funding. In a flurry of social media posts, the university don says that institutions will escalate into protests stemming from adverse political decisions, inefficient policy, and a sham promotion system. Habib’s outpour comes amid historic debt protests taking place […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":30027,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30026"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30026"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30026\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30027"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30026"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.englishforward.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}