The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) recently announced that almost all of the university students funded by the scheme received their NSFAS allowances. However, students at one university faced a slightly longer wait to receive their allowances.
South Africa’s largest university, the University of South Africa (Unisa) is the one institution that has not yet disbursed allowances to students. NSFAS explained that the institution is consolidating which allowances students should receive.
The University of South Africa (UNISA) is finalising the process of determining allowances based on the number of modules registered by students.
Apart from being South Africa’s largest university, Unisa uses the Open Distance e-learning way of teaching. The institution is therefore classified as a distance learning institution.
This also means that the NSFAS allowances received by the institutions’ students also differ from those of other institutions. Students who study from home do not require an accommodation allowance or a travel allowance.
NSFAS Funding For Distance Learning Students
NSFAS defines Distance Learning as a mode of provision based primarily on a set of teaching and learning strategies (or educational methods) that can be used to overcome spatial and/or transactional distance between educators and students.
It avoids the need for students to discover the curriculum by attending classes frequently and for long periods. Instead, it may use a combination of different media, tutorial support, peer group discussion, and practical sessions.
The financial aid scheme explained that students who attend institutions like Unisa are categorised as distance learning students.
A university student studying at a non-contact university.
NSFAS’ funding policy sets out that allowances for students in distance education programmes are calculated based on the number of courses registered up to a maximum of R5,460.
Distance University students studying an equivalent full-time course credit load qualify for the personal care allowance of R3,045 per academic year. This requires a student to be registered for a minimum of 120-course credits in one academic year.
University students, who are studying less than 60 course credits towards their qualification, qualify for the learning materials allowances only.
