Fess will not be able to fall.
A report of the commission which looked into the feasibility of making tertiary studies free in South Africa found that government alone would not be able to foot the sizeable bill.
The report, however, proposes that TVET college students be fully funded.
No student who qualifies for entry into SA’s Technical, Vocational Education and Training (TVET) should have to pay for their study costs, states the report put forward by an independent commission set up by President Jacob Zuma and chaired by Justice Jonathan Heher.
It says “all students at TVET colleges should receive fully subsidised free education in the form of grants that cover their full cost of study and that no student should be partially funded”.
The report is in favour of a cost-sharing model for students at private institutions which include both government and banks.
“The commission recommends that all undergraduate and postgraduate students studying at both public and private universities and colleges, regardless of their family background, be funded through a cost-sharing model of government-guaranteed income- contingency loans sourced from commercial banks,” it said.
“Through this cost-sharing model, the commission recommends that commercial banks issue government-guaranteed loans to the students that are payable by the student upon graduation and attainment of a specific income threshold. Should the student fail to reach the required income threshold, government bears the secondary liability.”
The commission also said registration and application fees be “scrapped across the board”.