NSFAS ready to deal with funding bids
DESPITE receiving a record number of applications for the 2023 academic year, the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) is confident it will be able to tackle the task of providing funding to students from workingclass and poor backgrounds.
This year alone, thanks to the extended application period of four months, the national aid scheme announced it had received a historic number of more than 1.6 million applications for funding.
Despite this large number, board chairperson, Ernest Khoza, said the scheme was up to the task, and had already implemented a number of mechanisms to enable the full provision of its mandate. This was because, for the first time, they had “budget certainty”, unlike in previous years.
Khoza said the scheme was already hard at work reviewing all processes and the overall governance and management design.
He said they had also introduced a new performance management and accountability framework in a bid to establish a high-performance culture within the organisation.
For the current academic year, Khoza said the government had allocated R38.6 billion for universities and R8.9bn for TVET colleges, which would be disbursed in four crunch payments in April, June, August and October.
From the number of applications received, 613 000 had already been provisionally approved and funded, with 338 000 being continuing students, while 275 589 were new applicants.
In breaking down the applications, Khoza said 210 679 applications were being assessed for financial eligibility, where funding was verified against the threshold through the South African Revenue Service.
Awaiting evaluation were 273 746, and while Sassa beneficiaries decisions had been made, non-Sassa students had to provide documentation, he said.
Minister of Higher Education, Science and Training Dr Blade Nzimande added that in the current financial year, the scheme’s budget was standing at R47.6bn, funding about 900 000 beneficiaries.
This, he said, was something that had to be taken note of, considering that NSFAS had projected a 7% increase in the number of students qualifying for bursaries compared to the previous year.
He said of this increase, over 60% of undergraduate students received support from NSFAS and well over 90% of students at TVET colleges were NSFAS beneficiaries.
“We will continue to defend the important role of NSFAS in expanding access for the dependants of the working class and the poor in the post-schooling sector.”
Furthermore, Nzimande said that, this year, there was an inflated increase of 5% on all student allowances other than the living allowance affected for all institutions.
The minister said the decision regarding the final allowances was arrived at after extensive consultations with key stakeholders and role players.
For instance, Nzimande said university-managed and catered-for students were to receive a learning material allowance of R5 460 and an accommodation allowance capped at R61 500 a year.
Students using university-managed self-catering accommodation would also receive the learning material allowance, with a living allowance of R16 500 and an accommodation allowance capped at R45 000.
He detailed that compared to the previous academic year, the living allowance for students would increase by R1 650 across the board, which came up to about a 10% increase.
“This increase is above inflation, as it is taking into account that for the past three years, there has been no increase for students.”
Students living with relatives would also receive a learning material allowance, as well as a living allowance of R16 500 a year.