Nationwide protests to end the financial exclusion of some students at South African tertiary institutions has shone a light on those considered the ‘missing middle’ in the country’s government funded educational system.
The missing middle are those in society who are considered too poor to afford university but are also not poor enough to qualify for government funding.
These are millions of South Africans who are unable to afford education, do not qualify for the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) and are unable to pay back loans to further their education after high school.
In recent years, South Africa has had student protests with hashtags such as #Asinamali #FeesMustFall which challenged the government to provide free higher education to all.
In 2017, former president Jacob Zuma announced free education for South Africa’s 26 public universities which have around one million students and 50 TVET colleges which have around 700 000 students.
EXPLAINER: Who are the ‘missing middle’?
The policy changes came after long-drawn protests by students under the banner #FeeMustFall and were aimed at offering free higher education for students from poor and working class homes.
It said poor and working class students ‘currently enrolled in TVET Colleges or University students from households with a combined annual income of up to R350 000’ will get free tuition by the 2018 academic year.
In a statement, the Presidency said the policy changes will affect 90% of South African households. Eligible students will be funded through grants, which will include tuition, study materials, meals, accommodation and transport.
According to the statement, the government would introduce fully subsidised free higher education and training for poor and working class South African undergraduate students, starting in 2018 with students in their first year of study at public universities.
The policy change would be facilitated by an increase in subsidies to universities from just 0.68% to 1% of GDP as recommended by the Heher Commission into Higher Education, added the statement.
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