The Minister of Higher Education and Training, Naledi Pandor, is pleased to announce that the Department of Higher Education and Training (#DHETinSA) has allocated an additional sum of R967 million to the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) to settle the historic debt owed to universities by 52 514 NSFAS funded continuing students.
“This is a significant contribution which will alleviate some of the debt owed to universities by students and is confirmation that government is sensitive to the plight of students from poor and working-class families.” Minister Naledi Pandor said.
The allocation is specifically for those who had been funded on the previous funding scheme of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) prior to the significantly improved funding support that began in 2018. Historically, these students were required to fund part of their costs through family or own funding and were not able to do so, hence the debt.
Minister Pandor indicated that this is the first phase of the assessment of the historical debt owed to universities. Work on the due diligence exercise begun by the Minister of Higher Education and Training, in consultation with the Minister of Finance and Minister of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation continues. “We have now concluded, the first phase of the due diligence and found that 52 514 NSFAS qualifying students who were registered for the 2018 academic year owed universities R 967 million.” Minister Pandor said.
