26 April 2004
The Young Communist League of South Africa (YCLSA) condemns the action taken by Wits University management of cutting student financial aid by to a maximum of 75%. This action effectively privatises access to quality public tertiary education. The YCL believes that this decision is a direct outcome of the Wits 2001 programme which was hailed as a restructuring to benefit students and workers. Instead, hundreds of poor students at Wits University are suffering the illogic of creating elite universities for the rich.
The YCL fully supports the struggle of Wits University students, led by their Students' Represe'ngtative Counci (SRC), to reverse the decision of the management. The YCL has mobilised its members around Gauteng to be part of the demonstration by the Wits students.
The action by Wits is not an isolated incident. Most students suffer in silence as they have to go by with limited finances for their studies. Since the end of the 1980s, expenditure on education has been effectively reduced and replaced by the üser-pays" logic which makes access to decent education dependent on wealth. The policy objective of government to make higher education accessible to everyone must be met with the mobilisation and availability of adequate public resources.
We also call on the National Student Financial Aid Scheme to meet the pressing financial needs of the Wits University students and the Department of Education to intervene in this regard. We believe that both institutions have a critical role to play in this regard. We are shocked that on the eve of the the 10th Annivessary of our democracy, a management such as that of Wits can afford to take decisions that takes us more than 10 years back. They are not acting in the interest of the public and of the country.
CONTACT
Buti Manamela
National Secretary
Young Communist League
Cell-082 567 3557
or
Nkosiphendule Kholisile
National Working Committee Member
Young Communist League
Cell-082 939 4035