Report of the Ministerial Task Team to develop a Support and Funding Model for Poor and “Missing Middle” students

The Ministerial Task Team to develop a Support and Funding Model for Poor and “Missing Middle” students has issued a Report "with the objectives of this report being:  To answer the question of whether or not South Africa can afford to offer fully subsidised or ”fee-free education” to the poor, and subsidised education to the students who come from working class backgrounds,  To present the Minister with the feedback from the Ministerial Task Team mandated to develop a funding and support model for poor and “missing middle” students,  To recommend that the Minister adopt this proposal for funding and support for the poor and “missing middle” as the strategy and direction for funding and support for university and TVET students across tertiary education in South Africa."

"In support of the Constitution to make higher education progressively available and accessible, the Ministerial Task Team reaches a conclusion that it is possible and financially viable in the short term to offer fee-free university education to the very poor students with a combination of subsidies and loans to the poor and “missing middle” students. The blueprint recommends a model which will provide very poor, poor and “missing middle” students financial assistance to cover the full cost of study at universities. The blueprint recommends a fully subsidised education to the very poor in the form of bursaries and grants and progressively reducing bursaries and grants as household income increases to the poor and “missing middle” students."