Johannesburg - Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa challenged the private sector to fund higher education on Monday evening.
Increased private sector funding, higher skills levies as well as a wealth tax have been some of the suggestions that have come to the fore as possible solutions to the current higher education funding crisis.
Ramaphosa’s comments come as a presidential task team is mulling over viable means and ways to address higher education funding, which recently saw students bring a number of the country’s institutions of higher learning to a virtual standstill as they demanded free higher education as well as a 0% fee increase for 2016.
President Jacob Zuma last month announced that higher education fees would not increase next year. This, however, will result in a funding short-fall estimated at R2.7bn.
Addressing the Ernst & Young Strategic Growth Forum Africa in Sandton on Monday evening, Ramaphosa put the private sector in the spotlight.
He said government was funding higher education through the R9.5bn National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) bursaries and loans. He said there should be a better way to leverage the NSFAS funding.
He said the private sector, especially banks, can fund higher education.
“No country has achieved what we want to achieve without affordable and accessible education,” he said. "Through their actions, the students of South Africa have, quite correctly, underlined this critical imperative."
"As a country, we must now move with speed and purpose to address these fundamental issues of access, transformation and quality outcomes."
Ramaphosa said funding of higher education was critical as no one should be excluded from higher education because of lack of funding. “We need funding mechanisms that are sustainable,” he said.
He said government had budgetary constraints and could not tackle the education funding problem alone.
“If you talk to Maria (Ramos) in private, she will tell you about (government’s) budgetary constraints,” Ramaphosa said, in reference to Ramos, Barclays Africa Group CE, who was in the audience. Ramos is a former director-general of the National Treasury.