A school in the Free State province has suspended teaching and learning due to the rising Covid-19 cases. Parents have demanded that all learners be tested before they return to school.
If you have been declined for the R350 SRD grant in the period February to April 2021 and you’re curious as to whether you can still appeal this, keep reading.
Black Sash and a few other organisations have sent an open letter requesting for the COVID-19 SRD Grant to be extended as many South Africans desperately need this grant as they are still living with the impacts of this pandemic.
Many students across the country have complained that NSFAS has not been paying their allowances. The financial aid scheme has now explained why this is happening and what will happen.
Many successful applicants have been waiting for SASSA to process the payment of the R350 grant. SASSA has given clarity about the payment dates. The Special Covid-19 grant of R350 came to an end in April.
When the pandemic begun, students had to shift their lives from face to face lectures to remote learning. Challenges like, internet connection, time management and your family constantly distracting you are some of the things students are currently struggling with but, the biggest challenge has been mental health.
The Education Department and the Portfolio Committee are concerned about the delays in the school infrastructure projects. The Department and the departmental divisions across the different provinces are discussing implementing a penalty to hold the agents causing the delays accountable.
As the Department of Basic Education puts forward a proposal to have all primary school learners return to class full-time, the Minister has since agreed that the current rotational system is not practical. A decision on whether this full return will happen is yet to be made.
Unpaid applicants of the Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress Grant could still receive payments once their applications are approved. SASSA says, they will pay approved applicant as soon as a confirmation of the applications approval has been received.
The issue of missing middle funding, along with postgraduate funding, is ongoing. The Minister of Higher Education is now pushing for NSFAS to introduce a loan scheme to support these categories of students.
Students who had their higher education funded by NSFAS are now being encouraged to pay back their student loans. NSFAS has been criticised for their administration and lack of efficiency.
Reports have revealed that there are hundreds of thousands of students who don't actually exist who are having allowances and tuition fees being paid to them. If you constrast this with the issue of existing students still waiting for their first batch of NSFAS allowances to be paid, it would definitely cause frustration in many.
Civil society groups are now calling government's termination of the R350 grant 'unjust' and have called for government to extend the grant until the Basic Income Grant is implemented. The #PayTheGrants campaign has said that citizens have the right to these grants.
Unisa has still not enrolled the 20 000 students after being denied the option to cut down on their enrolment for 2021. A court ruling has been sent to the University to address many of Unisa's current issues, but the universities has said to be filing for an appeal.
UCT student have finally been able to return to their rooms to pick up their belongings that were not damaged by the fire. With minimal extreme damage, UCT students and staff are lucky to find that most of their belongings were unharmed.
Covid-19 and the resulting National Lockdown has put an even brighter spotlight on school dropouts as the dropout rate in the country only gets worse. This comes at a time where learners returning to class full-time is being considered.
Many applicants for SASSA's R350 grant have been told that they were rejected because they are IRP5 registered. Are you confused by this? Well, you're not alone. Keep reading to find out what SASSA has said about this issue.
The Department of Basic Education and teachers unions are still debating about whether primary school pupils should return the school full-time. Many say it is not worth as there have been talks of a third wave, while others say it is needed.
Teachers are now calling for Government to provide them with salary increases. Public servants believe that government does not care about them and that workers should be paid what they deserve.
SASSA has assured beneficiaries for the Special Relief of Distress grant that payments will continue for the R350 grant even though the grant has come to an end. The SRD grant reached it's last day last week.
