The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) provides comprehensive bursaries to students from disadvantaged backgrounds, aiming to cover all costs associated with tertiary education, enabling students to focus solely on their qualifications.
To qualify for an NSFAS bursary, students must be registered in an approved program at a public university or Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) college. These bursaries cover tuition, registration fees, as well as provide allowances for meals, accommodation, and stationery.
Recently, members of parliament inquired about the performance of students funded by NSFAS at universities and TVET colleges.
The Minister of Higher Education, Blade Nzimande, disclosed that 390 431 NSFAS beneficiaries successfully passed at universities, while 102 252 did not meet the passing requirements. In addition, 108 161 NSFAS-funded students passed at TVET colleges, with 90 779 falling short of the passing criteria.
The Minister was unable to provide clarity on the number of NSFAS-funded students who deregistered or dropped out of their courses, mentioning that the financial aid scheme is currently working with institutions to finalise these numbers.
On the question of number of students who dropped out, NSFAS will be working in conjunction with institutions to finalize this number.
NSFAS Will Terminate Contracts With Allowance Payment Service Partners
NSFAS, which funds more than a million students, provides various allowances, including accommodation, living, and meal allowances.
In 2022, NSFAS revealed its plan to pay these allowances directly to students. The payment system was first introduced at Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges and was expanded to include universities in 2023.
NSFAS is set to terminate contracts with service providers for the direct payment of student allowances. This comes after the board carefully reviews the findings of an investigation into potential conflicts of interest in the appointment of service providers.
Several key findings were made by Werksmans Attorneys. They found that there may have been possible relationships between key individuals including CEO Andile Nongogo and the Fintech companies appointed to pay allowances directly to students.
