Students get to grips with free education policy

STUDENTS from the University of Fort Hare had an opportunity to interact with Higher Education and Training (DHET) Minister Hlengiwe Mkhize yesterday on the burning topic of free education.

The minister was at the university’s East London campus to clarify some of the uncertainties around student funding following the announcement of free education by President Jacob Zuma last month.

The treasurer-general of the South African Union of Students, Misheck Mugabe, said the minister had given clarity on the raised household income threshold to qualify for the National Students Funding Aid Scheme (NSFAS) from R122 000 to R350 000 and how students would benefit from free education.

“The minister told students that new applicants who qualify for free education would have their NSFAS loans turned into bursaries,” said Mugabe.

Third-year B Ed student Simfumene Gontsa said NSFAS was very inaccessible and their online application process was not “rural area” friendly.

In a press briefing in Pretoria last week Mkhize emphasised that only prospective students who had been offered a place to study at a tertiary institution would be considered for the fully subsidised education announced by the President.

Mkhize said the funding policy‚ which would be phased in over a five-year period‚ extended the provision of higher education and training to the children of the bottom 90% of SA households provided they met the academic admission criteria and the requirements of tertiary institutions.

In a statement issued yesterday, CEO Steven Zwane said NSFAS believed that the President’s pronouncement – which involved doing away with the loan portion of the funding – would expand the reach and impact of free education that the state had been providing via NSFAS for years.

“We are proud to have provided financial assistance to more than three million beneficiaries since our establishment in 1991 and we are pleased to continue to build on this legacy.”

NSFAS applications closed on November 30 last year.

“All the new first-time entry students who have been allocated space but haven’t applied directly to NSFAS will be assisted.

“They will, however, have to supply the institution with mandatory documentation such as identity documentation of parent, legal guardian or spouse, and proof of income or Sassa.

“Students are advised to bring these when presenting themselves at the institutions of higher learning,” said Zwane. —