Business commits R200m to pilot funding project for students
Business will contribute R200m towards piloting the Ikusasa Student Financial Aid Programme (Isfap) this year — a public-private partnership led by former FirstRand CEO Sizwe Nxasana, which seeks to address the funding requirements of disadvantaged students. The pilot will cover the full cost of study for the 2017 academic year, including tuition and accommodation, for 1,500 students at seven universities and one Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) college. If the pilot is successful, the plan is to get corporates to contribute 1.5% of their payroll bill to Isfap come 2018, which would raise an estimated R24bn per year to fund higher education and training. In terms of broad-based black economic empowerment (BBBEE) legislation, businesses must spend 6% of payroll on skills development. Companies often found this to be too large an amount of money to spend only on their own employees, said Trevor Chandler, senior policy adviser at the Association for Savings and Invest...
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