Funding for the missing middle is a major issue in South Africa. The Ikusasa Student Financial Aid Programme (ISFAP) aims to tackle this through their ISFAP bursary.
This bursary is geared towards students who come from poor and working class backgrounds. One of the main qualifications is that students' household income must come to R600 000 or less per year.
So when will bursary applications for 2023 open? ISFAP applications will open on Wednesday 18 May.
ISFAP promises wrap-around support with the ISFAP bursary including the following:
- University fees
- Accommodation, meals and books
- Academic support as well astutoring, extended academic programmes and IT support(laptops and data
- allowance)
- Dedicated programme managers on every campus to support students academically and psycho-socially
- Life skills training
- Mentoring
- A stipend
- Some medical support for students needing reading glasses etc.
- Ongoing administrative support, including regular check-ins with students to ensure they remain on
- track.
"ISFAP currently focuses mainly on the critical skills needed in the IT and data science, engineering, chartered accountancy, actuarial and medical professions," said the Scheme.
