The Department of Higher Education, Science and Innovation stated that the problem that has caused delays in processing the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) applications has been with documentation. Once they identified the cause of the delays, the application backlog was reduced.
According to the department, the backlog was reduced by more than 100,000 applications. This allowed many students to register at their tertiary institution and begin with the 2023 academic year.
Nkosinathi Sishi, the Higher Education Department Director General, believes that NSFAS struggled to ensure that applicants’ documentation aligned with the bursary’s requirements, which contributed to the backlog of applications.
Sishi stated that in one day, the backlog was reduced from 200,000 to 97,000.
Students who have applied for NSFAS funding are encouraged to check their myNSFAS portal to check their application status. If they were approved for funding, they will be allowed to register at the tertiary institution they have been accepted at.
In the event, that some students do not receive a successful response from NSFAS, they are given the opportunity to apply for an appeal, if they feel they were wrongly excluded. The appeal will need to be submitted within 30 days of receiving the declined application status.
Students may visit their myNSFAS portal to submit their appeal. The portal will allow them to track their appeal and provide them with their appeal status.
The department said that progress is being made on funding the students who are classified as the “missing middle”. These students, unfortunately, do not meet the NSFAS bursary requirements, therefore, the department is doing its best to find an alternative funding opportunity for them.
According to the department, the consultation process has been finalized. Once a report has been drawn up, it will be tabled to the cabinet for approval.
