Profiles in leadership
to higher education
Increasing access to higher education is what drives National Student Financial Aid Scheme CEO Steven Zwane
When students from disadvantaged backgrounds approach the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) for a loan or bursary they are hoping for a means to further their studies. But what they also get is the opportunity to transform their lives.
For NSFAS Chief Executive Officer Steven Zwane that is one of the best aspects of his work.
And he knows from experience how the doors of opportunity open following a NSFAS funding grant as he is a beneficiary of the scheme.
“I love being part of transforming things and being part of a team that gives solutions, basically continuing to fund deserving students and watching that unfold,” he told PSM.
NSFAS has given more than three million South Africans an opportunity to further their education since its inception in 1991 by disbursing more than R60 billion in loans and bursaries.
In 1991 the scheme started with R21.4 million in student funding and by 2017 this had grown to
R12.4 billion.
Free education
Last year President Jacob Zuma announced that government would introduce fully subsidised free higher education and training for the poor and working-class (students from households with a combined annual income of up to R350 000) starting in 2018.
This would only apply to students in their first year of study at public universities and tertiary institutions.
“I believe that the decision to increase the threshold to qualify for financial assistance to students from South African households with a combined annual income of up to R350 000 per annum reaffirms government’s commitment to opening access for poor and working- class youth and to ensure success in higher education and training,” said Zwane.
He pointed out that NSFAS had already been providing elements of free education through the provision of bursaries to Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) college students over the years, as well as some university stu-
dents whose final-year loans were converted to bursaries based on their academic performance.
“NSFAS is of the view that the President’s pronouncement which involves doing away with the loan portion of the funding will expand the reach and impact of the free education that government has been providing through NSFAS over the years.”
New applications
“Our processes have been partially affected because on top of the
300 000 new applications we received by 30 November 2017, there will be new applicants who will be coming through academic institutions. We have already assessed 80 percent of the applications using the new criteria and we have started communicating outcomes,” added Zwane.
The funding budget for the 2018 academic year will be announced by the Minister of Higher Education and Training Professor, Hlengiwe Mkhize at a future date.
“We still have to hear from institutions of higher education on how many additional students they have received, who did not apply for NSFAS last year and must be covered under the R350 000 annual household income limit,” explained Zwane.
In 2017, NSFAS funded over
533 752 students – 255 725 from TVET colleges and 278 027 from universities.
“We expect to fund up to 600 000 students in 2018, taking into consideration the new group that will be accommodated under the
R350 000 funding extension,” he said.
Beneficiaries of NSFAS loans are expected to pay back the loan once they start working.
According to Zwane, NSFAS has also collected over R5 billion from former students it had granted loans to.
A student-centred model
One of Zwane’s top priorities for the organisation over the next two years is to sustain the student-centred model.That is where student loans and bursaries are granted to individual students after an application is submitted to NSFAS and a student’s financial need and academic performance is evaluated.
Students are notified by NSFAS on their application results, which means that there is a direct relationship and communication between the student and NSFAS from first year registration until completion of studies.
Once a student is approved for funding, NSFAS allocates funding for the student and pays it directly to the institution for tuition costs. Registration fees are paid faster and more efficiently.
Eligible students are allocated allowances directly through the sBux system, which enables a student to receive and spend their allowances using their cellphone. Allowances such as accommodation, transport, food allowance and allowances for textbooks are provided to support a student academically through their student life cycle.
Through the student-centred model, NSFAS is able to trace the student’s academic progress throughout the course of study and a student only applies once for funding, and not every year.
“NSFAS is reviewing its service level agreements with the institutions and demanding to know what controls they are putting in place if they are disbursing money through third parties. As NSFAS, we have no recourse with regard to what happens between academic institutions and third party service providers,” said Zwane.
The organisation is also reviewing its business model to implement the new changes starting in the 2018 academic year.
“We have worked tirelessly to improve our systems, working closely with universities,TVET colleges and the Department of Higher Education and Training for 2018 and will adjust our systems to deal with the extended financial aid and the expected increase in the number of students who now qualify for
financial assistance,” he added.
Finding 26 NSFAS gems
Looking at the future plans of the organisation, Zwane would like to find 26 beneficiaries who are “gems” and profile them to showcase how NSFAS has transformed their lives. He believes this will help give NSFAS a human face and motivate other prospective students.
“As an NSFAS beneficiary myself, I believe that the organisation’s good stories are not told and I want to be the one who will drive that conversation – thus giving NSFAS the human face that resembles resilience just like the Republic itself.”
“For many years we have never really given it a human face; we have just looked at it as the funding machine that must give out the money but we have never looked at who is this beneficiary of NSFAS, where does she or he come from, and why is this vehicle so critical to their well-being.That is the one thing I want to do,” he said.
Zwane believes putting a human face to the NSFAS will also encourage people to pay back their loans because they will have a better understanding of where the funds are going.
Giving back
As a NSFAS beneficiary, Zwane said he “felt compelled to apply for his current post in order to give back to the community and play a part in ushering in a new dawn”.
“I couldn’t believe that I was selected as the head of the organisation.This has been one of the best opportunities anyone could be given. The fact that the organisation has funded more than three million students, nothing could ever come close to that. Essentially three million lives have been changed for the better and that says that I’m working for an agent of change,” he added.
Zwane always had ambitions of being a mechanical engineer but couldn’t pursue those dreams due to lack of finance. His first job was as a cheque collector at a bank before he “took a leap of faith” and applied for funding from the NSFAS was was accepted at the University of Zululand to study BSC in Computer Science.
Zwane has spent 12 years in executive management across banking, consulting, education and training, strategy development, operations, technology, sales, and youth development programmes.
He holds a BSc in Computer Science from the University of Zululand and an MBA from Durham University in the United Kingdom.
Zwane was a recipient of the prestigious Nelson Mandela Scholarship that enabled him to attain his Master’s degree.
He also founded the Youth Leadership and Entrepreneurship Programme – an aspirational youth skills development programme that gives selected young people an opportunity to hone their interpersonal, leadership, career and entrepreneurship skills to aid their chances towards a better future.
“I am passionate about youth development because I believe that through skilled young people, the future of our country will be bright. Education has been a cornerstone of my life and I have seen the consequences of a lack of education in other young people’s lives,” said Zwane.