Minister of Higher Education Blade Nzimande On NSFAS Challenges. In 2023, Several challenges are being faced by thousands of students who were defunded by NSFAS. The Minister of higher education has explained what is being done concerning the challenges being experienced by students in South Africa.
According to SABS News The Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Innovation Dr Blade Nzimande says there is no crisis at the Student Financial Aid Scheme.
Minister of Higher Education Blade Nzimande On NSFAS Challenges
Nzimande noted that the system has progressed with the new direct payment system which has led to student protests in several universities. The system is mired in complaints about the failure of student funding. The minister hit out at critics who say NSFAS is in disarray. He also warned students who benefited from NSFAS unfairly and called for appropriate criminal and legal action against all those who cheated in the scheme.
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The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has had several issues, which have been addressed by Minister of Higher Education Blade Nzimande. Many students are concerned about the new restrictions that NSFAS has implemented, and this has sparked protests at several South African institutions.
Currently enrolled in recognized programs at universities and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Colleges, over a million students receive funding from NSFAS. Comprehensive bursaries are awarded to these students, intended to fund every facet of their education.
Nzimande clarified that the NSFAS dispatched two teams under the direction of top authorities and moved quickly. A sample of ten universities and twenty TVET colleges received these teams.
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The goal of the ten-day visit was to personally interact with students and institutions in order to learn about the difficulties they are now facing. Additionally, NSFAS started continuing conversations with student leaders in the areas where the problems still exist.
NSFAS highlighted the reasons why thousands of students lost their NSFAS bursaries due to the negative effects of defunding students. According to NSFAS, 28,378 students have been defunded since the beginning of 2023.
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Applications were rejected for a variety of reasons, according to NSFAS, including occasions where applicants no longer met the financial eligibility criteria due to the use of freshly updated South African Revenue Service (SARS) data.
