Cape Town - The unrest on campuses has resulted in university students neglecting to complete their applications for funding from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme for 2017, the chief executive officer of the institution said on Monday.
“Due to recent student protests at all our campuses, we have noticed that there are students who have applied for NSFAS but have not signed their loan agreement forms and schedules of particulars yet,” Msulwa Daca told a media briefing.
He said the fund called on these students to do so as soon as possible.
“This is particularly import because NSFAS will not be able to process tuition payments for students who have not signed their agreements. This will affect their 2017 registration as outstanding debt would need to be cleared by that time.”
Furthermore, the number of applications received from matriculants this year for funding was significantly down from previous years.
“We are also very concerned that the number of applications received from Grade 12 learners is very minimal. Most of the applications we received are from university students.”
Daca said this was worrying because NSFAS deliberately opened the application process early in order to have enough time to assess these and to communicate with applicants well before the start of the academic year.
“In January, we would like to see all NSFAS students able to walk in at any institution and be able to register without any problems.”
Daca said the protests also pose a problem in that NSFAS’s funders wanted to support students who did well academically and completed their studies in time.
This placed the fund under “enormous pressure” as it tries to maintain its policy of converting 40 percent of the loans it grants annually into bursaries for students who pass, and then fully subsidise their final year.
Daca said NSFAS urged financially needed students to apply for funding in the next month. The deadline for applications is November 30.
“The countdown has begun. From today, there are only 30 days left before NSFAS closes the applications period for financial aid for 2017.”
According to figures supplied on Monday, NSFAS funded 480 000 students in 2016 to a tune of R14 billion.
Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan last week announced additional funding for NSFAS over the medium term and called for the often violent strife shaking higher education to come to an end.
African News Agency