F(r)ee Higher Education: A School of Economics engagement

Abstract

In October 2016, students’ request for free higher education again dominated South Africa’s political and public agenda. In an attempt to facilitate and contribute to the much-needed conversations on the topic, students and staff of University of Cape Town’s (UCT) School of Economics initiated a series of seminars on F(r)ee Reform (www.facebook.com/FreeReform) and the accessibility of higher education. This document is a result of the initiative and aims to present some of the topics that were discussed during the seminar series including information on the legal context to education in South Africa, government’s current approach to funding higher education and the response of students in the engagement to this approach, as well as a discussion of an alternative funding model for higher education.