Higher Education Imbizo kicks off

The meeting is set to chart the way forward, following weeks of protests at institutions of higher learning. 

Representatives from the University of Pretoria's Student Representative Council (SRC) are making their presence felt as they sing and chant inside the imbizo venue.

The imbizo was convened by Minister of Higher Education, Blade Nzimande, who is seeking input from stakeholders in order to find a lasting solution to the issue of fees in higher education. 

The Council on Higher Education has already advised Nzimande that a continuation of a 0 percent fee increase in 2017 would have detrimental effects on the quality of higher education and institutions overall. 

The council said an across-the-board fee increase at the level of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is the most defensible scenario.