Universities and colleges across South Africa have begun the process of registration for the 2023 academic year and these institutions require students to pay registration fees upfront in order for their registration to be finalized.
The South African Union of Students (SAUS) has called on all higher education institutions to comply with the agreements they have with the Department of Higher Education and Training and the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) in order to allow all NSFAS approved students to register without any upfront payment.
The union says that they don't expect students who are part of the poor and working class to struggle to gain access to institutions due to a lack of funding especially those who are first-time entering students.
SAUS is concerned about students who form part of the missing middle as the lack of clear policy objectives and directives from the government may cause these students to be excluded from tertiary institutions.
Missing middle students are considered too rich to qualify for NSFAS funding but are too poor to afford tertiary education.
SAUS says that it is clear that missing middle students will not be able to pay the required upfront payments in order to register at higher education institutions.
Th union has requested that all universities adhere with the directives of the department to register all students who have met the academic requirements to continue with their studies and not block them from accessing institutions because they cannot afford to pay registration fees.
The value of student debt is currently at R16.5 billion and largely comes form the missing middle cohort and SAUS says that this is very concerning as leaving this debt unattended could cause the sector to collapse and threaten its financial integrity.
