Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande says decisive action is being taken to address the unpaid National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) allowances. The Department of Higher and Training (DHET) will prioritise timely payment and ensure student well-being.
NSFAS provides comprehensive bursaries and student loans to deserving students enrolled in approved courses at public universities and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Colleges.
This funding covers tuition and registration fees. Students also receive several allowances to cover additional expenses such as meals, accommodation and learning materials. These allowances are distributed to students monthly over ten months.
Nzimande acknowledged that delayed payment of allowance to students has a significant impact on students and the education system. The minister said several decisive actions will be taken to address to the ongoing issue of delayed allowance payments.
A Dedicated Task Team is set to be deployed to universities and TVET colleges facing NSFAS challenges. This team will work directly with institutions to resolve issues.
The Minister has instructed NSFAS, supported by the Department, to immediately establish a dedicated Task Team that will visit all the TVET Colleges and Universities, where students are experiencing serious NSFAS-related problems. This Task Team has already started working.
Nzimande confirmed that NSFAS distributed millions of rands to institutions for NSFAS allowances for the 2024 academic year. However, delayed payments are a result of institutions not submitting registration data by the deadline set by NSFAS for 15 March 2024.
The failure to submit registration data prevents NSFAS from disbursing funds intended for students as they are unable to verify which allowances students are entitled to.
In addition, NSFAS has sent its servicing administrators to work with the non-compliant TVET Colleges and Universities to finalise the submission of student registration data and ensure that the outstanding student allowances and tuition are paid in the next payment cycle.
The minister acknowledged that NSFAS's failure to distribute allowances led to sporadic protests around the country.
Regrettably, not all TVET Colleges and Universities have complied with the NSFAS deadline of 15 March 2024, for the submission of student registration data to facilitate the payment of allowances. The failure to comply by some TVET Colleges and Universities has contributed to the latest sporadic student protests.
The minister has called on all stakeholders in the sector to work together and assured affected students that his department is working around the clock to resolve NSFAS allowance payment challenges.
Furthermore, the Minister wishes to request all stakeholders in the sector to cooperate and work together with the Department in the quest to resolve these problems.
The minister has also taken the opportunity to apologise to students for the inconvenience caused by the non-payment of allowances.
The Minister also wishes to take this opportunity to sincerely apologise to all affected students for the inconvenience that they have been experiencing, as a result of the non-payment of allowances.
