A 19-year-old first-year university student and her parents were left high and dry following the Department of Education’s failure to honour an agreement to pay her tuition fees, supposedly because her name no longer appeared on the list of beneficiaries.
The parents, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the student, explained that they helped their child apply for the bursary last year. She was admitted this year and was happy when they received a call informing them she had been awarded a bursary “We were told she fell in the replacement category.”
A contract was indeed signed on June 16 by the student and the director of the department.
Mpumalanga News is also in possession of a copy of the confirmation letter regarding the payment of fees for the 2014 academic year covering the registration fee, accommodation, meals, prescribed books and study material.
The student, however, got the shock of her life when she went to the Van Schaik Bookstore to get stationery when she was denied from opening an account because the department allegedly still owed them money.
The parents had to make means to send cash for the stationery. As if that was not enough, she applied for accommodation and was denied on the basis that the department hadn’t paid for her.
She called her parents, who in turn, went to the department to try to ascertain what the problem was.
They were told their child’s name did not appear on the list of beneficiaries. “When we asked the reps about the whereabouts of the contract we signed, we were told it was nowhere to be found. We are now being sent from pillar to post and nobody gives us a straight answer. We want to know exactly what is happening,” they said.
They also revealed that their daughter recently declined funding by a private company after her name was chosen by the university from the list of best-performing students because of a clause in the contract that stated the bursary would be withdrawn if the student received another one.
Spokesman for education, Mr Jasper Zwane said it was conducting an internal investigation into the auA 19-year-old first-year university student and her parents were left high and dry following the Department of Education’s failure to honour an agreement to pay her tuition fees, supposedly because her name no longer appeared on the list of beneficiaries.
The parents, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the student, explained that they helped their child apply for the bursary last year. She was admitted this year and was happy when they received a call informing them she had been awarded a bursary “We were told she fell in the replacement category.”
A contract was indeed signed on June 16 by the student and the director of the department.
Mpumalanga News is also in possession of a copy of the confirmation letter regarding the payment of fees for the 2014 academic year covering the registration fee, accommodation, meals, prescribed books and study material.
The student, however, got the shock of her life when she went to the Van Schaik Bookstore to get stationery when she was denied from opening an account because the department allegedly still owed them money.
The parents had to make means to send cash for the stationery. As if that was not enough, she applied for accommodation and was denied on the basis that the department hadn’t paid for her.
She called her parents, who in turn, went to the department to try to ascertain what the problem was.
They were told their child’s name did not appear on the list of beneficiaries. “When we asked the reps about the whereabouts of the contract we signed, we were told it was nowhere to be found. We are now being sent from pillar to post and nobody gives us a straight answer. We want to know exactly what is happening,” they said.
They also revealed that their daughter recently declined funding by a private company after her name was chosen by the university from the list of best-performing students because of a clause in the contract that stated the bursary would be withdrawn if the student received another one.
Spokesman for education, Mr Jasper Zwane said it was conducting an internal investigation into the authenticity of the letter and why the student’s name did not appear on the approved list.
“The department noted that the student in question had a letter confirming she had received a bursary from it even though her name did not appear on the list. The investigation will be concluded before September 12,” he said. He said the department did not owe the bookstore any money.
“The department noted that the student in question had a letter confirming she had received a bursary from it even though her name did not appear on the list. The investigation will be concluded before September 12,” he said. He said the department did not owe the bookstore any money.
