Corporatisation proposal of the student funding scheme is a reversal of Student Movement advances towards Free Education Article by Cde Sive Gumenge, 2 January 2017 The Mail & Guardian, (22 December 2016 to 05 January 2017), published an article about a tabled "Gazette" for Cabinet to approve a "partnership" of the private sector and government on establishing a new student funding entity called Ikusasa Student Financial Aid Programme (ISFAP). The article titled "Student aid may have a new future" is a result of a Ministerial Task Team report on creation of new a funding model for the "missing middle" and the poor. The Minister of Higher Education and Training, Cde Blade Nzimande appointed Mr. Sizwe Nxasana, the former FirstRand CEO to chair the task team. In sophisticated manner, the article says the report seeks to propose that government must donate NSFAS to private capital as it does not have confidence in NSFAS systems for it to inject funding for South African students in need. In the article it is stated that, "given NSFAS's legacy issues it will be very difficult to restore the confidence of the private sector to start funding NSFAS". The latter is an absolute demonstration on how monopoly capitalism arrogance is and that is disgusting. Therefore that tells you simply that private sector is not interested in the wellbeing of government and the poor, besides benefiting from it in whatever way possible. At some point in time, Comrade Karl Marx said, "Everything which exist, exist of necessity. But equally everything which exists is doomed to perish, to be transformed into something else. Thus what is "necessary" in one time or place becomes "unnecessary" in another. Everything begets its opposite which is destined to overcome and negate it." Indeed perhaps NSFAS could be called all sorts of things by those who are not happy with it, but to push it to take a backseat in partnership with private sector after what it has done for poor South Africans, it will be a serious accident of history. This public-private partnership agreement proposed for NSFAS and a new special management companies, called ManCo and FundCo will be an ideological contradiction towards the realization of free education and socialism in South Africa. Few years back, the Minister of Higher Education and Training, commissioned a review of NSFAS to what some of us in the student movement used to call, "the Balintulo Commission". In the SASCO 16th National Congress in Durban, Comrade Blade said, "you would all be aware of the ministerial committee reviewing the efficacy of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS). I instituted this evaluation shortly after my appointment because it is generally recognised that the scheme has acute shortcomings in providing adequate support for needy students. As a result of these shortcomings, poor students and their parents have to resort to undesirable options such as mashonisas to finance their studies. This practice perpetuates a cycle of debt in thousands of poor households around the country and needs to come to an end.. In the final analysis, the revamped NSFAS must give effect to government's commitment to progressively introduce free education for the poor up to undergraduate level". Therefore with this ISFAP proposal, we need to ask about the Balintulo report and how far NSFAS has moved to respond to it. Thus ask, is the establishment of this new scheme a declaration that, NSFAS failed? If yes, then the portfolio on higher education and training in parliament would have indicated by now. Also if it has not failed, then why reinvent the wheel? Now that this report is in the public domain perhaps society and the congress movement, particularly the labour unions should unite in rejecting this new "mashonisa". Ideologically the communist party should lead the call in its Financial Sector Campaign and the Battle of ideas Commission, because it will abuse the poor. The endorsement of this scheme will be ideologically contradicting the very same ANC's resolution of using the NSFAS to progressively marshal free education for the poor. If we surrender education to the capitalists to manage, then we would have fully donated ourselves and our ability to fight for socialism. Lenin is correct that, "Education is one of the component parts of the struggle we are now waging. We can counter hypocrisy and lies with the complete and honest truth. In the article it is stated that, "the private sector is risk-averse and wants to have some guarantees that its funds will be well used". For crying out, the NSFAS is celebrating 25 years of student funding in South Africa and it funded even senior private and public sector officials. Perhaps the private sector must just disclose the ownership of these companies that must be in partnership with NSFAS so that we honestly know their interest in this. The strangest thing is that it is proposed, "ISFAP will make decisions centrally regarding who is accepted for funding, together with the terms, conditions, and the grant/loan/bursary make-up of the funding". Therefore it means NSFAS will just be an empty shell and as this partnership is an indication of take over. Even the National Development Plan of 2030 it states that, students who do not qualify for NSFAS should access bank loans and both NSFAS and banks loans should be recovered through arrangements with SARS. It does not indicate a takeover. Perhaps the private investors should have some faith in the NSFAS mission of aspiring "To transform NSFAS into an efficient and effective provider of financial aid to students from poor and working class families in a sustainable manner that promotes access to, and success in, higher and further education and training, in pursuit of South Africa's national and human resource development goals". On the principle bases this proposal is an ideological suicide to make NSFAS back seat scheme and let alone its details on how it will function. . Sive Madala Gumenge is a former SASCO Provincial Executive Member in the Western Cape and an aspirant Minister of Culture and Education in South Africa. He writes this in his personal capacity as a South African citizen. __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 14702 (20170102) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com -- -- You are subscribed. 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