/ MEDIA STATEMENT / The content on this page is not written by Polity.org.za, but is supplied by third parties. This content does not constitute news reporting by Polity.org.za.

It is very clear that the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) is failing our students. Our students are suffering and they are desperate.  The longer Minister Blade Nzimande just ignores this massive problem, the longer students are going to have to suffer and ultimately be prevented from furthering their studies. This is completely unacceptable and we are demanding that the Minister addresses this immediately as deserving students’ rights to further their education are being denied. A deserving student shouldn’t have to fight to get the opportunities he or she deserves.

Yesterday, chaos broke out at Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) in protest against the failed NSFAS pilot project.

Seven universities are participating in the NSFAS centralised pilot project for 2014. The pilot includes a central financial office that deals with all the administration. The centralisation has led to a bottleneck in applications with thousands of applications not being processed on time. More than 50 000 applications went missing. It is clear that the NSFAS pilot project does not have capacity. This means that a large number of students who have been on NSFAS financing before, simply haven’t heard back from the office for their funding to be approved. This means that thousands of students are left stranded without funding. Some students also received allowances as late as May and June this year. The NSFAS pilot project must be suspended immediately.

Vaal University of Technology (VUT) also closed on Monday with immediate effect. This was the result of a strike against the failing NSFAS system becoming violent. Security huts were burnt down and students were shot with rubber bullets. Students were still not receiving their portion of food money from the university because it is allegedly being misused. Students who live far away were left stranded, without any means to travel back home on such short notice.
 
A DA government and DASO led SRCs will not stand for this. Under a DA government the NSFAS budget will be increased to R16 billion per year. We will ensure that no students are left behind. We will fight for every qualifying matriculant to get access to higher education. We will continue fighting this battle until all qualifying students get the opportunities they deserve!

Issued by the DA