The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has confirmed that the student allowance payment process is in full swing.
This comes after student allowance payments were delayed due to the restructuring of the system.
The University of Witwatersrand (Wits) also released a statement asserting that over 8,000 of the 9,950 students had been paid their allowances on July 14.
According to its figures, the scheme said 7,684 student allowances were paid on the 14 July in addition to the cohort paid during the end of June payment run.
The scheme said there were a number of its beneficiaries whose payments were outstanding, and will be examined and corrected as soon as possible where appropriate.
“We will continue to liaise with all institutions to ensure that whatever obstacles exist are addressed. There is accelerated work to ensure universal coverage and disbursements to already approved beneficiaries due to receive funding,” it said.
However, NSFAS said the speed and comprehensive release of funds would depend on the relevance and applicable student registration data being timeously available.
It said there was a concerted effort to foster closer coordination between it and the educational institutions benefiting from it, in exchange for quality assurance and processing of student information to fast-track the disbursement of funds to students.
“We understand and are fully aware of the need to minimise any delays in the release of funding because of the strain such an eventuality has on the emotional well-being of vulnerable and needy students,” it stated.
It was mentioned that it was their highest priority to maintain the momentum of disbursing approved funding swiftly, accurately, and following their governance systems and principles.
Meanwhile, NSFAS informed members of the public, as well as its stakeholder network that there were overlapping and interdependent change management processes under way within the organisation.
The changes were aimed primarily at the deployment of automated technological solutions to serve students on time and at scale.
It also cautions the public not to be disheartened by teething problems that might come with their current system changes that might arise in isolated incidents from time to time.
It added that the re-engineering of the overall architecture of their systems was on track and receiving the utmost focus and care.
Despite the uncertainty and discomfort that comes with change, NSFAS said it was committed to a consultative and transparent change management process.
kamogelo.moichela@inl.co.za
IOL