Abstract

BLACKMUR, D. J.. A social justice policy framework for funding the acquisition of higher education qualifications in South Africa. S. Afr. J. High. Educ. [online]. 2023, vol.37, n.6, pp.41-55. ISSN 1753-5913.  http://dx.doi.org/10.20853/37-6-6112.

Much of the recent published research on the future contribution of the South African university system to the development of a more just society offers an evaluative framework that contains two principal assertions: firstly, South African under-graduate university students must receive state subsidies from taxpayers; and, secondly, austerity, marketisation, credentialisation, commodification, and related neoliberal conceptions of education and society have hindered efforts to achieve a more just society. This article offers a dissenting analysis that is nevertheless located within a social justice framework. It argues that a student loan system of funding the production of university qualifications is consistent with Rawlsian principles of fairness in the distribution of income and wealth.

Keywords : social justice; public policy; higher education; qualifications; funding; public goods; taxpayer; neoliberal; social grants; Rawls.

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