Uproar over NFSAS funding

Taxpayers have called on the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) to control the funds they allocate to beneficiaries every year.
They are alleging that some students are not using the funding for their education but to maintain their social life.
The scheme provides financial aid to poor students to help pay for the cost of their tertiary education after finishing high school and beneficiaries receive a monthly allowance from it that is paid into their personal bank accounts.
This year Government has provided R34,5 billion to NSFAS to support students from poor and working-class backgrounds in their studies at public Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges and universities.
Higher Education, Science and Technology Minister, Blade Nzimande was quoted in a statement to have said students can make their own decisions about how to best utilise the allowances.
He was quoted to have said Government has rightly prioritised the funding needs of the poorest students in the system, and has scaled up support to provide improved financial aid for all students from families earning up to R350 000 per annum.
Breaking down the allowance structure Nzimande said for 2020 the allowance will be R5 200 per student. “This amount is paid in cash to students to allow for student choice in determining their needs. Students in university owned and managed catering residences receive support for the full residence cost including catering (this amount is paid directly to the institution), as well as the incidental allowance. In 2020 the incidental allowance will be R290 per month for the ten months of the academic year.
He added that distance university students qualify for tuition fees and the learning materials allowance only. “However, distance students studying an equivalent full-time course load of a contact student also qualify for the incidental allowance. This requires a student to be registered for a minimum of ten courses in one academic year. For those students still subject to the funding cap, this will be R93 400 in 2020,” remarked Nzimande.
Deliberating on the matter, Walter Tshamano, Campus Rector at Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) Polokwane Campus said it was a regrettable decision to direct funding into the learner’s personal accounts because the funding it is not controlled to look at essentials. “On the other side the move has elements empowerment. Students learn more about financial management. He also added that NSFAS is open to all South Africans and no one should be too proud to apply.”
Molosi Sebanyoni, a second year Computer Programming student at TUT Polokwane Campus said that NFSAS should control the allowances as some of the students are still young to handle such amounts of money. “Some can handle the allowances well and some cant. I am aware that other people are concerned about how other students are using the funding but again it is up to the students on how they want to spend the funding.”
University of Limpopo declined to comment on the matter.

Story: Herbert Rachuene
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