Funding for higher degrees is going to change with a view to fully support financially needy students, and encourage black South Africans to study beyond an Honours degree, the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education, Science and Technology heard yesterday.
The committee received briefings from entities of the Department of Higher Education and Training including the National Research Foundation and the National Institute for Social Sciences.
A representative of the NRF told the committee that there was a need for a balance in the way students are funded for junior and senior degrees.
It was revealed that less than R1 billion in funding is availed to the post-graduate sector, while R18 billion is availed to students for junior degrees, including students from the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Colleges sector.
The committee heard that black students struggle as early career researchers as they do not get support and funding to progress beyond the Honours level. There is a need for increased public investment and policy coherence to improve this challenge.
Members of the committee sought clarity on the issue of funding and said it seemed that it is woefully inadequate.
The Chairperson, Mr Philly Mapulane, said the pending budget cuts that will also affect the department were a concern and that the committee will motivate for an increased budget for the work the department was doing.
Committee member, Keetse, sought clarity on the kind of support that was offered to black graduates once they attain their doctoral degrees. “Career progression is important, what is your involvement after graduation? If there is no follow-up to those you fund, that is very problematic. That would mean we are losing the research talent to big corporations,” he said.
He asked if there was any work done on trying to decolonise education, and whether people understood the concept of a decolonised education.
He sought clarity on whether anything was being done to address a situation where only foreign nationals undertook doctoral studies in South Africa. “There are too few South Africans studying towards attaining PhDs. This is worrying,” he said.
It was responded that funding remained a concern. With the introduction of the postgraduate funding policy, this will change as issues of class and race will be taken into consideration. The representation of black South Africans at Honours level does not translate into Doctoral studies. Well-performing but financially needy students would be fully funded. “This is the least-funded department, and yet it is doing a fantastic job,” said Mr Mapulane.
By Sibongile Maputi
3 June 2020
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