More than 120,000 students affected by NSFAS delay in allowance payments
The DA says the National Student Financial Aid Scheme needs an emergency student fund, via the Department of Higher Education and Training, to end the payment delays — half way through the academic year
The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has disclosed that at least 121‚974 students have been affected by a delay in the payment of allowances.Of this number‚ 83% are university students‚ while 17% are Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) college students‚ the scheme said in reply to a DA parliamentary question.Seventeen percent of the known pay-out delays have been as a result of students not signing their agreement forms‚ while 83% were due to "technical problems" in matching registration data for students.MP Belinda Bozzoli called for the immediate establishment of an emergency student allowance fund by the Minister of Higher Education and Training Naledi Pandor to ensure the problem of delayed payments is brought to an end.She said NSFAS has noted that 12 universities and 11 TVET colleges have been disrupted and faced protest action since the beginning of the year‚ many as a result of NSFAS problems. In an attempt to deal with the situation‚ the Departme...
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