Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande that the majority of students who will enrol in academic programmes at Universities and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) will be funded by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).
The minister revealed that 70% of university students and 90% of TVET college students are currently funded by NSFAS.
The minister briefed members of the media on Tuesday on the State of Readiness for the 2024 academic year. They also touched on NSFAS-related challenges and the release of the 2024 matric results.
The matric class of 2023 achieved a pass rate of 82.9%. Many of the learners who passed matric will enter the higher education sector in 2024 as 40.9% of learners achieved bachelor's passes granting them access to degree programmes in the country.
University Enrollments
The minister also announced the establishment of a DHET monitoring tool to assess registration, readiness for teaching and learning, readiness for student and academic support, plans for funding students and the status of institutions. The establishment of a steering committee with several key stakeholders including university representatives, NSFAS and student leadership was also revealed
South Africa’s 26 universities received more than 200,000 applications for scarce skills programmes for the 2024 academic year. 67,929 applications of these first-time entering enrollments will be within scarce skills programmes.
- Engineering - 18,551 new enrollments
- Life and Physical Sciences - 16,415 new enrollments
- Animal Science - 614 new enrollments
- Veterinary Science - 206 new enrollments
- Human health - 9455 enrollments
- Teacher Education - 22 698 new enrollments
Late Applications
The minister revealed that several universities will take late applications. This was attributed to the relatively late release of matric results.
Universities that will take late applications include CPUT, DUT, MUT, Rhodes University, Tshwane University, University of Fort Hare, Unizulu and Walter Sisulu University.
TVET College Enrollments
TVET college enrollment is expected to reach 482,244 students. However, the minister says this still falls short of departmental enrollment targets.
This is still far from where we want to go.
CACH Services
In an effort to enable access to all our institutions, the department has reopened the Central Applications Clearing House (CACH). The CACH system enables prospective students to register and receive information about institutions that can accommodate them for a peculiar academic programme in 2024.
The CACH service for 2024 will be open from 8 am on 26 January 2024 until 31 March 2024.
Bogus Colleges
The minister cautioned members of the public against registering for courses at colleges that are not registered with the Department of Higher Education. Referred to as bogus colleges, they mislead members of the public into believing they are offering nationally and internationally accredited qualifications.
I expect the public to be vigilant and not fall for fake operators who are not registered by the South African Qualifications System. We urge all parents and students to check on registered colleges on our website
