Free+Education+System,+YCL




 * Young Communist League, Discussion Document to the National Policy and Strategy Conference**


 * 11-14 August, 2005, Makopane, Limpopo Province**

=**__Moving the Trenches…Defying the Odds! Forward to a Free Education System!__**=

The campaign for Free Education has been put on the table again immediately after the YCL Relaunch Congress and the National Lekgotla. Despite various setbacks, confusions on what our demands are, blanket criticism, we are marching on towards a consolidated campaign for Free Education. The purpose of this paper, without being a long, boring thesis muddled with statistics and ultimately becoming an ideological nightmare, will rather solely focus on the work that we have done thus far, conceptualising that work within the changing education system and political discourse, and finally attempt to chart a way forward for a YCL programme in 2005.
 * 1. Introduction**

The vision of the YCL is to see a free education system in Universities and Further Education Colleges. We seek to strife for the creation of access in all these institutions without advance payment or payment of tuition fees. We further seek to transform the curriculum content and focus into the one that embraces, support and respect the new democratic dispensation. Therefore, the challenge is not only to scrap tuition fees, but to change the education system and the product thereof.

This year’s Campaign for Free Education commenced with a programme of action that was announced by the YCL, COSAS and SASCO. In the midst of the announcements, there were demonstrations, class boycotts, general strikes which were triggered by financial exclusions or tuition fee increases. These were in Wits University, University of Port Elizabeth, University of the North, University of KZN and University of North West. Tshwane University of Technology and Tshwane North College—Mamelodi Campus had its fair share of activities. All this struggles, different in form and content, had a web of connection in their demand for access into the respective institutions. In summary, our demands are as it relates to the YCL are as follows:
 * 2. Activities for 2005/6.**


 * Banks should offer students loans for studying at lower interest rates.
 * That the state should conduct a study on the cost of education in the country, and introduce control over fees.
 * Universities should have a moratorium on fee increment.
 * That parents, workers and students should determine learning and teaching in schools and universities.
 * Students must pass, and contribute back to the community.
 * That schools fees be abolished with immediate effect.
 * That the NSFAS should gradually phase out the fee component.

For the year 2005, the Demand for Free Education has become a significant step towards changing the lives of many students and youth. The debate, we can confidently proclaim, is on the agenda.


 * 3. Contextualising our Demands**

The privatisation of services in Public Institutions have drastically increased the cost of learning, and the burden of the cost has been borne by students. The key services that have been privatised since are catering, accommodation, transport, text-books, and in some instances, libraries. The increase in the cost is mainly because of the desire to make profit on the part of the service providers. This is also besides the poor services that students receive.
 * 3.1. //Curbing The Cost of Learning//**

The introduction of private service providers was paralleled by corruption in that most of this institutions sought to bribe SRC’s and students’ organisations for them to receive these tenders. Because of such protection, or fees, SRC’ s then became then automatically removed the onus of challenging poor services from these private institutions.

The argument suggesting that private service providers were introduced because those services do not constitute the core business of an institution of learning does not hold water. The lives of students on campus does not rotate behind attending lectures, and thus, proper students’ support is a necessary factor. The struggle for the retention of services in public institutions remains a critical factor. These struggles can be waged both nationally and institutionally, with the branch of YCL challenging the presence of private service providers, and the nationally ensuring that legislation stops such presence of private service providers.

This will assist in the following:


 * Ensuring that service levels and quality are determined and controlled by the institutions, through the inclusion of various stake-holders who benefit from such services.
 * Control in prices of such services, with the elimination of the urge to create profits.
 * A possible introduction of co-operatives, run and managed by students and workers, and for students and workers.
 * Drastically reducing the cost of learning in institutions of learning whilst increasing quality services.

The current South African society was borne out of consistent struggles against national, gender and class oppression and has continuously been for the creation of a democratic, non-racial and non-sexist society. The YCL’ s further insistence of working class leadership was as a result of the realisation of the role of the working class in the transformation of backward Apartheid SA. The demand for free education can only fail if it is reduced towards the demand for cancellation of fees. It should penetrate into the demand for quality education, with severe and necessary implications for the transformation of the current curricula.
 * 3.2. //Transforming the Curriculum Content and Focusing on Community Values and Ethos//**

A Human Resource student is taught to understand what it means to ensure that a company becomes profitable with a committed labour force that is free of unionisation, otherwise, proper and effective management of trade-union activities. This has serious disregard for the role of trade-unions in the transformation of Labour Laws and the defeat of the Apartheid as a system, and serious disregard of the conditions of workers in the factory floor. There is a course in defence of profits and worker profitability. An economics student is taught how to manage the increase of prices with the decrease of demand, whilst a Marketing student is taught how to mollify society through branding certain products so as to increase demands. All this are either imported from some European or American model, with plagiarised or simulated examples, with serious disregard of our Human Resource, Economics or Marketing. We are lucky that all humans are the same, similarly, this would have been done with Medicine.

Students are further taught to become elitists, and are trained to disconnect from their cultural background or belief. They are alienated. They are taught to earn a living, not a life. The transformation of curriculum and its content therefore becomes a necessary pillar for the demand for free education. We need to ensure that we engage with the following:


 * The introduction of community service with all the sectors of learning, this will also instil a sense of responsibility and ownership on the part of students.
 * To inculcate the learning and teaching of the SA history, and the respect of the values and ethos we seek to uphold.
 * The control of senates and academic boards in the hands of society, with the intention of ensuring that we create centres of people’s education for people’s power.
 * The development of a citizenry that is committed and dedicated to serve the needs and interest of society, sharp, and prepared to uphold the said values and ethos.

“We have identified as the YCL enemies of students and youth in this country. These enemies of students and youth see us as a major source of profit. They are led by enemy number one being the banks and financial service institutions. Banks, for instance, charge exorbitant interest rates on the study loans that many of us have applied for, and later blacklist us because we are unable to pay them back.
 * 3.3. //Challenging Capital Institutions to Serve the Course for Free Education.//**

“They constitute the biggest thugs who prey on the poverty of the poor and working class families, unable to afford study fees. With them are their nephews and uncles in the form of Mashonisas, who charges huge interest rates for profit” YCL National Secretary’s Address to the SASCO National Day of Action.

Although free education (free in the context of tuition fees) has been proven possible in capitalist and welfare (read social-democratic) societies and economies, in our country, capitalist institutions see it as a commodity to derive profits. Financial capital has been in the forefront of this attack. These have taken the form of savings (Education Schemes), Land (Institutions such as Edu-Loan) and banks providing loan directly to the public. This has seen parents, desperate to ‘create a better future for their children’, fallings prey to such institutions. An agenda that will remain sustainable for as long as the ‘pay as you learn’ system is in place.

As the YCL, we need to challenge this form of capital accumulation. We should engage private capital to invest in education through:

Support the§Scrapping interest rates on education related borrowing. Directly§National Student Financial Aid Scheme through financial injection. provide financial support to institutions of learning, faculties and/or schools.

The constitution of the NSFAS has proven to be a temporary intervention on the part of the state providing subsidies, bursaries and loans to education institutions. More and more students fall within the backlog of debt owing to the scheme. These students fall victim of unpaid loans, which go on for years given the unemployment rate. An acknowledgement should be made that the NSFAS has played a significant role over the years in increasing access to higher education sector, however, given the demand which is as a result of the high matric pass rates, this has proven not to be helpful.
 * 3.4. //Capitalising the National Student Financial Aids Scheme (NSFAS)//**

The NSFAS has also not come to the party as it relates to financial assistance towards Further Education students. The absence of such assistance, with the sky-rocketing fees in some FE Colleges, have made it impossible for accelerated and massive access in this institutions.

Part of the pressure on Finance capital should be the injection of finances towards the NSFAS so as it can extend its pool of beneficiaries. The NSFAS should also be challenged to provide a plan on how it will provide Free Education through the conversion of the loan component into a bursary.

Black Economic Empowerment has focused on the acquisition of equity shares and huge deals for a very group of people. The source of most capital used to finance these deals emanates from well-established finance capital, pension and provident funds, the state and capitalist institutions in general. This narrow focus of BEE should be challenged and some of the resources should be channelled towards the provision of Free Education. An example in this regard is the Financial Sector’s allocation of R100 billion, which Black Empowerment companies argue 50% thereof should go to financing equity deals. We have a legitimate right to expect that the money should be used for the provision of Free Education.
 * 3.5. //Free Education as Black Economic Empowerment.//**

The plague of Private Further and Higher education is one of the major compromising elements of Free Education. We have seen a compromise in quality FE and HE, whilst exorbitant fees are charged for such education. Despite some justification that such education provision is necessary to alleviate the cost towards the state in meeting the demand, there has been a major limitation in terms of the sustenance of such institutions.
 * 3.6 //Challenging Private Education, Transforming into a Quality Public Good!//**

Part of the issues that needs attention is the smashing of private institutions at all costs, so as we should there should be Quality Public Education.

Most of the problems that have emerged recently exposed the weaknesses that the student movement exposed on the merger process. The uprisings were mainly at the merged institutions of Pretoria University, Tshwane University of Technology, University of KwaZulu Natal, University of Johannesburg and the Durban Institute of Technology.
 * 3.7 //Exposing the Failures of mergers and their impact on Fee Increases.//**

Students from the merged campuses complained of the strenuous imposition of the new registration processes. We need to expose the impact of mergers on access to higher education and engage the Department of Education in this regard.

As indicated earlier, the National Day of Action was an important tool for the mobilisation of forces for Free Education. The YCL will not make it alone. The forces that are committed to champion the course for Free Education comprise of:
 * 4. Mobilising Forces for Free Education**


 * Students,
 * Unemployed youth,
 * Young workers,
 * Parents,
 * Rural youth,
 * Religious organisations,
 * Trade union organisations, and
 * Organs of Civil society.

These forces have nothing to lose in the struggle for free education, and pose an opportunity for the building of a mass organ for this discourse. The progressive representative organisations that organises these sectors are:


 * SASCO, COSAS, AZASO and PASMA,
 * ANCYL, YCL, PAYCO and AZAYO,
 * COSATU and its Affiliates (in particular SADTU and NEHAWU),
 * SACC, SAGDA and SAYC, and
 * NGO’s, CBO’s etc.

We need to take forward the issues that emerged from the workshop as convened by the YCL under the banner of the Education Alliance.

Already, there are problems that have arisen from various institutions as a result of the demand for access. The demand might not have been for Free Education, but the implications are towards that. All the uprisings in the institutions concerned were mainly against high fee increases. We therefore need to move forward in consolidating the Campaign for Free Education.
 * 6. Conclusion: Preparing for a vibrant 2005—A Mini POA**

We need to ensure that we focus our attention on the following activities:


 * A National Day of Action focusing on the Department of Education, the South African Banking Council, South African Chamber of Business and the National Student Financial Aid Scheme.
 * Provincial Actions focusing on the Provincial Departments of Education.
 * Local Actions focusing on Universities, Colleges and Schools (COSAS).
 * Focusing the debate and popularising the demands through various forms of media and communications.
 * Conveneing a Mass Action in demand for Free Education.
 * Some of the thoughts emerging or that has emerged from the students movement include:
 * Engaging the Private sector to contribute into the National Students Financial Aids.
 * Engaging government to introduce a special tax to contribute towards education.
 * Ensuring that we democratise Financial Aid Administration as soon as possible.


 * The struggle for Free Education lies in our hands.**