A paralysis beyond just the NSFAS
Just more than three years ago, the higher education landscape witnessed two seminal moments. First, then minister of higher education Blade Nzimande appointed former CEO of FirstRand Sizwe Nxasana as the chairperson of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS). This was in light of serious governance challenges at NSFAS that had left it struggling to fulfil its mandate.
Back then, its mandate was the distribution of funding to poor students while they were studying, coupled with the collection of loans from students who had graduated and found work.
The reasons NSFAS was struggling to meet its mandate were varied and welldocumented. From an inability to track its own beneficiaries to the lack of sufficient financial coverage for students still studying, it seemed ill-equipped to meet the expectations of any of its stakeholders. The appointment of Nxasana, with his track record in corporate and banking in particular, ushered in a sense of hope that it could once again be set on the right track.
The second key development was the advent of the #FeesMustFall movement at the end of 2015. This brought a renewed focus on the issue of chronic underfunding of higher education in general, with NSFAS blamed as one of the key contributors to the disaster.
Three years down the line, the higher education landscape has changed dramatically. SA has indeed come to acknowledge the scale of the problems inherent in higher education. The politicians — for a variety of reasons — have acknowledged the legitimacy of the call made by students and since 2015 have pumped more funding into higher education. And yet, throughout all these developments, NSFAS has remained dysfunctional and paralysed by the weight of expectation from its multiple stakeholders. The scale of the problem has led to Nxasana abruptly resigning from the institution and the minister being forced to dissolve the entire board and appoint an administrator.
Tragically, thousands of students remain in limbo as they have not received allowances due to them all year. Given the critical importance of NSFAS in advancing the cause of young people and giving them a fair chance at surviving in higher education, this calls for immediate intervention.
In order for NSFAS to be turned around, it needs to fill critical vacancies at the executive level. While the appointment of an administrator essentially makes the current CEO’s position redundant, it makes little sense, without cause, to dispense with what little institutional knowledge still exists in the organisation at this stage.
While some institutions will struggle to run financial aid schemes regardless of which model is in place, it is also important to note that some universities in particular have long-established institutional capacity to administer financial aid. Allowing these institutions to conduct their own affairs will re-establish the proximity with the beneficiaries that disappeared when the socalled student-centred model was adopted.
The latest parliamentary report into NSFAS highlights multiple issues that have led us here and also points a finger at the board, and perhaps provided some answers to questions about Nxasana’s resignation. We may never get the real details, but there seems to be unhappiness in the air. Any conflict among the stakeholders could not have helped to dispel the anxiety of staff regarding the future of NSFAS. And given the tense and incestuous relations between politicians and unions, the solution of disbanding NSFAS overnight was never going to happen.
The announcement relating to free higher education in December last year essentially altered the mandate as it effectively reduced NSFAS to just a distribution agency. This has human capital implications, particularly for staff whose expertise may have been in collections as they suddenly become of no use to the institution.
Surprisingly, the NSFAS Act itself has yet to be amended to reflect this new mandate and its associated implications. This indicates that the paralysis relating to NSFAS is now at the operational, strategic and policy level. A lack of policy clarity for an organisation seeking to perform a function that is so critical to the stability of the higher education sector is a guaranteed path to chaos.
And perhaps that is where the NSFAS board was let down by the politicians.
If NSFAS is able to sort out its operational issues, it may just be in a position to finally roll out its 2019 application cycle.
But whether that happens or not, we have to confront the reality that any scheme that can leave thousands of students in limbo for more than eight months of an academic year is fast losing sight of its core function.
Tragically, thousands of students remain in limbo this year
Khumalo is an entrepreneur