South Africa’s Higher Education Department will cover a greater part of the shortfall in University funding for 2016, officials have said.
Higher Education media liaison officer Khaye Nkwanyana confirmed this development, saying that the details would be disclosed by the office of the president in due course.
President Jacob Zuma last month waived university fees in the country after massive nationwide demonstrations by the students over a reported plot to hike the tuition fees starting in 2016.
The cost of university education in South Africa reportedly amounts to close to $3.5 billion yearly.
The University of Cape Town’s vice chancellor Mr. Max Price welcomed the government’s move to cover more than 80 percent of the shortfall caused by the government’s decision to stop the fee increment.
South Africa subscribes to a funding framework in which costs are shared among the beneficiaries, the government and students.
The protests last month were billed as the largest witnessed in the country since the infamous anti-apartheid demos.
They began in Wits University on October 14 before spreading rapidly to other campuses across the country.
