51% of students can’t afford tertiary tuition
CAPE TOWN – Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) in a report revealed that around 51 percent of South Africa’s youth between the ages of 18 and 24 are not able to afford the fees needed to attend a tertiary institution.
In the report, titled: Education Series Volume V: Higher Education and Skills in South Africa, the firm noted that that the trend in participation in all institutions of higher education have increased, with the total enrolment in tertiary institutions in 2016 amounting to 49.9 percent of all enrolments within this sector.
Stats SA said in the report, "The Higher Education and Skills in South Africa report released by Statistics South Africa today further shows that access to funding for tuition was a major concern for some of the youth who could not pursue higher education. Other barriers to higher education qualification attainments were poor performance resulting in high levels of drop out from tertiary institutions."
Stats SA also added that data from the General Household Survey (GHS) during 2017, indicated that only 33.8 percent of youth aged between 18 and 24 were attending educational institutions, while 18 percent were not attending educational institutions attributing it to poor academic performance.
In terms of funding for students, the report shows that in 2017, three million students received funding for their studies.
“Between 2010 and 2017, a total of R70,8 billion in National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) funding was granted to more than 3 million students. In 2017, 85,7 percent of the money allocated to NSFAS was granted to university students while the rest (14,3 percent) was granted to students at TVET colleges,” said Stats SA in the report.
Written by Gabriella Steyn
Guzzle Media.
