Many NSFAS students are opting to use their book allowances on laptops, rather than on textbooks. Picture: Pexels. Graphic: Sihle Mlambo/IOL
Image: Pexels, Sihle Mlambo/IOL
With prices ranging from R500 to a staggering R3,000 for a single new textbook,the high cost of university textbooks has become a matter that has all the hallmarks to impact students' academic experiences and financial stability.
Textbook expenses are not just a minor inconvenience but a serious obstacle to academic success for many students across universities countrywide.
The high cost of textbooks, along with already high tuition fees, food and accommodation, are making things more complex for students.
An IOL team visited the North West University's Vaal Campus and the Vaal University of Technology (VUT) recently to get a first hand account from the students themselves during registration week ahead of the start of the new academic year.
The students have revealed that there is a growing number of students that decide against buying new required textbooks each academic year, due to their high costs.
Students are resorting to alternatives such as purchasing second hand textbooks at a lower cost, borrowing them from their campus libraries or searching the internet to try and find the textbooks in pdf formats - which is illegal - at no cost.
Last year, the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (Nsfas) funded over 760,000 students across the country. Nsfas typically provides tuition, accommodation, book and meal allowances to qualifying students.
In terms of the book allowances, the financial aid provider, pays students a once-off book allowance of about R5,460, regardless of what studies one is funded for. This book allowance can also be used to buy a laptop.
However, many students have complained that the book allowance is simply not enough.
Returning civil engineering second year student, Amohelang Molipa, who is funded by Nsfas, said he made a decision to take his allocated textbook allowance to buy a laptop instead as he felt he needed it to be able to attend online classes. He said the book allowance was not enough to buy both.
He then reached out to his classmates and lecturers to find out about alternative ways he could get access to textbooks and that is how he was made aware of internet sites he can download his course textbooks from, which helped him, he said.
"This is common practice amongst students across the different courses, so I would advise first years to talk to the SRC and fellow students about their textbook concerns," stressed Molipa.
A former student leader at VUT said the book allowances issue was a matter of concern.
“For those who cannot afford to even get laptops or second hand textbooks, their only option is to study at the library using campus-owned textbooks, which is not advantageous during test and exam time because you go to the library and find that all those textbooks are booked,” said Vutshila Manganyi, former secretary general of the EFF Student Council Command at VUT.
Other students have taken to social media to provide information about ways to either get textbooks online at no cost, citing open-source sites or to sell their pre-owned textbooks at a lesser price.
The only problem with that, as some students have expressed, is that you may not get the latest versions of textbooks online, if that is what your course requires.
Nsfas is aware of students' issues regarding the high textbook costs and the book allowance being insufficient however, it has not been clear about any potential solutions.
Last year, former Minister of Higher Education, Blade Nzimande, announced an adjustment of the book allowance to R5,460 from R5,200. This increase, he said, reflects an effort to provide students with more adequate financial support to cover the rising costs of textbooks and learning materials.
But students are still crying out for more.