WWN 89 will be out soon. We put the spotlight on the crisis of neoliberal education - and how it is fuelling discontent. Are we creating another lost generation? The conditions of neoliberal capitalism have produced widespread discontent within the tertiary education system, especially but not exclusively among black working class students. This article considers a few key aspects of the crisis within tertiary education. It seems that two contradictory changes lie at the heart of the crisis. On the one hand, there has been an exponential growth in the numbers of black working class and middle class students previously excluded under apartheid. On the other hand, the changes in tertiary education have assumed typical neoliberal forms; and these have reinforced old patterns of exclusion and inequality. Greater access…greater failure! In 1993, only 9% of ‘Africans’ and 13% of ‘Coloureds’ made up the tertiary student population, as compared with 70% of ‘Whites’. Today black students (i.e. ‘African, ‘Coloured’ and ‘Indian’) constitute over 80% of tertiary students in the country. However, far wider access on the part of black students has gone hand in hand with massive failure and drop-out rates. Budget crisis The surge in student numbers far outweighs significant increases in the tertiary education budget. In 2013 the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) had a shortfall of 2,6 billion but Minister Nzimande only approved R1 billion in additional funding. A 2010 report on the NSFAS concluded that, “It would probably need to triple its budget to meet even current demand.” At the same time education costs are escalating; with one opinion predicting tertiary education fee hikes of more than 10% per annum for the next five to ten years. With low growth rates, a weakened rand, negative ratings and rising deficits, the most likely scenario for the future is tighter budgets and greater austerity, including in the tertiary education sector. Student debt With the increased commodification of education, student debt has risen. Up to 57% of student graduates are saddled with student debt. Today the NSFAS provides loans or bursaries to 32% of public university students; and since 2009 the amount paid out has more than doubled. However, many black middle class students and even the upper section of the working class do not qualify for NSFAS loans because the R122 000 per annum income threshold is too low. Affected parents are forced to turn to banks for education loans at far higher interest rates. Economic distress is also reflected in the doubling of student credit card debt between 2010 and 2012: the number of student credit card holders leapt from 9.5% of students to 43% in this period. Poor quality education Today tertiary education is driven by a neoliberal ethos as opposed to a public or collective spirit that promotes the love of learning and critical thinking among students. The neoliberal paradigm prescribes a set of outcomes for securing the narrow economic needs of capitalist business and ‘the market’. Moreover, institutions now compete with each other, not just locally but globally. Government policy provides for performance-related financial incentives thereby strengthening the position of richer institutions at the expense of poorer historically disadvantaged ones. These trends ensure that the real learning needs of the mass of students, especially from the working class, are not seriously addressed. Despite bridging and foundation courses and talk about addressing student needs ‘holistically’, the education ‘deficit’ suffered by working class students remains pronounced. Poor living and social conditions, associated with several decades of neoliberal capitalism, combine with a highly defective schooling system for working class students, leaving them badly prepared for academic life. Failure rates are highest in courses with a mathematics component, such as medicine, science, technology and business studies. Poor reading and writing ability and experience, and the fact that for many courses are not taught in the mother tongue, are other factors that typically undermine black working class performance. The result is that under 20% of undergraduates complete their degrees. A majority either frequently fail courses or are forced to drop out. Insufficient and ill-equipped lecturers Poor quality is also associated with neoliberal trends affecting lecturers. The number of full-time lecturers has shrunk while ‘casualisation’ is rising. Between 2005 and 2010 there was a 40% increase in temporary staff, compared with a 10% increase in permanent staff. In the same period, an overall 15% increase in instruction and research staff was outpaced by a 50% increase in management staff. This is in line with neoliberal ‘New Public Management’ trends that prescribe that tertiary institutions are run on business lines. With tight budgets, not only has the number of lecturers failed to match the greater student intake but salary costs are also under pressure, especially for non-permanent staff. The student-lecturer ratio has consequently climbed: the ratio grew from 24:1 in 2005 to 28:1 in 2010. The ratios are especially bad at historically disadvantaged institutions. Some first year classes are made up of hundreds of students. A lecturer population that is overstretched, underpaid and ageing (the average age of a lecturer is 55 years!), more often than not, does not have the necessary teaching skills for big classes nor the motivation to meet the needs of students from black working class backgrounds. Student protests These trends have led to student protests across the country. There is a pattern of high-handed, bureaucratic and repressive action on the part of tertiary institutions and government authorities. Citing security considerations, the education authorities have resorted to the arbitrary suspension of classes; the closure of campuses; orders to vacate student accommodation; and interdicts prohibiting student action. A climate of intolerance has built up against student protesters. Often protesters are branded a ‘minority’, militant students are marginalised and efforts are made to divide students. Key demands raised include: greater financial assistance for students; a far bigger stock of student accommodation; and more teaching/learning equipment, technology and other resources. Students have also highlighted continued racism and infringement of the rights to assemble and freedom of expression. At the beginning of 2014, Sasco attempted to co-ordinate action around the NSFAS’s funding shortfall, under its Free Education Campaign. In a number of cases students have supported the struggles of campus workers. It would appear they have common grievances rooted in neoliberal capitalist policies, including tight budgets, infrastructure and resource requirements; as well as the outsourcing of services such as transport, cleaning and catering. These grievances speak to both the quality of education as well as wages/salaries and working conditions. Conclusion In many ways, neoliberal capitalism blocks the popular demand for free quality public education. While this demand has been adopted historically by Sasco, COSAS, Sadtu and Nehawu, it has not really been central to students’ protests in recent years; other than partially through Sasco’s Campaign for Free Education. In the next period, this wider demand could serve to unify struggles and build a fighting alliance between students and workers that challenges neoliberal capitalist features of the education system today.
Posted on: Tue, 04 Nov 2014 09:03:00 +0000
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