TERTIARY EDUCATION
Student funding body NSFAS fails to meet objectives
The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) increased the number of students it funded by 9% in the 2016-17 financial year, but the technically complex roll-out of its student-centred model led to the organisation failing to meet nearly half of its strategic objectives and performance indicators. The NSFAS presented its annual report to Parliament’s portfolio committee on higher education and training on Wednesday. Funded students rose from 414,949 in 2016 to 451,507 for this academic year. A total of R12.4bn in financial aid was disbursed, with the lion’s share of R10.3bn used to fund 225,950 students at the country’s 26 public universities. The R2.1bn earmarked for college students was a 100% bursary. NSFAS acting executive officer Lerato Nage said that since the ministerial review in 2010, the 2016-17 financial year was the most difficult in the history of the organisation. Unlike in the past, when universities distributed allowances to students, the NSFAS rolled out the ne...
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