Today, president of the South African Students Congress (Sasco), Mbulelo Mandlana, said that all matrics should receive free university education from 2011. He stated that South Africa is a 'knowledge economy' and not a 'labour-intensive' one. He also referred to a 'liberal notion...that [a university education] is a privilege'.
Sadly, I agree that it is still a privilege. Sadly, because I would love it if all South Africans had the chance to reach their potential. Sadly, because my days at university were some of the best. Because I know I learned so much, and not just in the lectures but in and around the campus.
But, in a capitalist society, surely a tertiary education is the privilege of those who can afford it?
Mandlana went on to say that there could be an education tax on all South Africans to help shoulder the burden. The whole thing, though, is broken from start to finish: we have an ailing educational system as it is, with thousands of primary and high schools already classed as 'dysfunctional'. Matric exams have just begun, and we all await the results anxiously following the long teachers' strike earlier this year.
With fewer learners passing high school, or even passing but from a 'dysfunctional' school, many of them enter the job market with few skills and no money for a university education. These will become the adults who Mandlana proposes we tax so that others after them have a chance.
The solution is not free university education, but a proper educational system that will produce functional members of society who have the skills to start working. Those who excel will be granted bursaries, those who can afford it can study further.
Then once we have a population with a basic education, with jobs, and that is contributing to society, then we can consider an education tax. Until that day, university education will remain a privilege and not a right.
Unfortunately, we need to start with the ABCs before we start handing out free degrees.
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