JOHANNESBURG - The private sector needs to help government fund higher education for students who can't afford it.
This is according to former student activist, Fasiha Hassan.
She says funding higher education is non-negotiable.
READ: Higher Education Dept urges universities to listen to students
She was speaking during a discussion on We The Nation.
“For me, it’s not even a question of can we? It’s we have to be funding higher education," she said.
"But we also have to be quite open and honest, the state has a big role to play yes, but is the private sector really coming to the party as well?
"Because there’s a big, big problem there. Your big companies will give out four, five bursaries, wow that’s great, done. But the reality is that they get the cream of the crop of all of our graduates and they’re not reinvesting into the higher education system," she said.
"Now that’s not to absolve the state, let’s be clear on that. It’s to say that we need more funding into the space number one but number two is to alleviate the burden off students."
* Watch We The Nation on eNCA at 8pm tonight.