Rhodes University vice chancellor, Dr Sizwe Mabizela, said that there had been some anxiety about the start of the 2017 academic year given the instability of the past two years at higher education institutions.
Dr Mabizela was briefing the media in Nelson Mandela Bay on Tuesday on Rhodes' readiness for the 2017 academic calendar.
He said the recent #FeesMustFall protests brought to the fore the unequal distribution of resources in our society which he said was a recipe for "instability."
"We cannot continue to be indifferent to the plight of the poor in our society," Dr Mabizela said
Using the theme, "The Doors of Learning Should Stay Open for All", Dr Mabizela said Rhodes believes that "in the short to medium term", free education should be provided to poor and academically deserving students.
"We must devise financially sustainable mechanisms to fund the missing middle. These are the children of civil servants; they are so heavily indebted that they cannot even access loans to finance their children's education. It is critical that the government find ways to assist these children to access education. Government should prioritise funding for the higher education system," he said.
Dr Mabizela said he supported students right to peaceful protests saying that violence would destroy universities.
"If we continue using violence as a legitimate form of engagement, our working class citizens will suffer the most. Those who can afford education will go overseas and into the private sector to access higher education and the poor will be left with nothing," he said.
Turning to student debt, Dr Mabizela said Rhodes student debt amounted to R48 million and he urged indebted students to make payment arrangements with the university.
However, he said that no academically deserving student would be turned away just because they could not afford pay fees.
"Rhodes University is grateful to our corporate funders whose contribution will make a difference in the lives of our students. We are deeply thankful to the corporates for assisting us deal with the issue of the missing middle. Every young person in this country must be given an opportunity to access higher education and the corporate support goes a long way towards achieving this goal," he said.
