DEAR Editor,-
We have heard in the news recently of the student protests because NSFAS (National Student Financial Aid Scheme) stopped paying students’ university fees. These students had qualified and were accepted for financial aid, but were not given it. Although I do not agree with violence and damage to property, I think they have every right to protest.
Few people realise the lengths students go to to pay their university fees. East Coast Radio news told a story of a girl who auctioned her virginity on the internet to pay for her fees. She was willing to have sex with the highest bidder. Stories like these are rare in the news but they happen regularly in reality.
When I was at university, there were girls who were prostitutes and some who had ‘sugar daddies’ to pay their fees. The men would be gigolos or drug dealers. I went on an evangelistic mission to another university and was saddened by what I was told. My partner and I asked a guy why he could not accept God and his answer was that he could not because he was “doing very bad things to get money for his fees”. It played on his conscience, but until he finished university he was stuck in that rut.
Even though I was on financial aid, there were times when my parents nearly starved to keep me at university. These examples show how desperate students are to make a living for themselves. They know that education is the key to earning a decent salary, and they are willing to do anything to get it.
The media portrays the students protesting as villains, but can we blame them? They sometimes protest over increased fees and lack of accommodation and those were serious issues when I was at university.
The government should start giving incentives for companies to provide bursaries and internships. There is a significant lack of bursaries and financial assistance. I studied journalism and found not even one bursary for that field of study. Most students rely on the government-sponsored financial aid called NSFAS. Then when they finish university, they are charged interest for each month they don’t pay it back. Many students cannot find work for at least a year after graduating. That will be even longer in today’s economic crisis. Just look at the number of people lining up in the streets for jobs.
How do the government and future employers expect students to survive like this? The stress of finance is too high when you add it to the stress of studying. No wonder there is such a high drop-out rate from universities.
SHELLIQUE CARBY
