Tertiary education is expensive and the cost of attending a university in South Africa may be too expensive for students from poor and working-class families.
The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (Nsfas) sought to address this issue and ensure that lack of finances does not prevent students from poor and working-class families from attaining their academic goals.
Nsfas bursaries cover tuition costs, and textbook costs and provide students with meal and transport allowances. However, some Nsfas-funded students have not yet received their allowances, which impacts their ability to stay focused on their studies.
Minister of Higher Education Dr Blade Nzimande says that more than 2 000 students are not receiving their allowances due to their double registration status.
He explained that 2 481 students have registered in more than one institution, which resulted in Nsfas receiving registration claims from more than a single institution.
To rectify this, students are urged to deregister from institutions that they are not studying at and submit evidence to Nsfas so that funds can be released to the correct institution.
Nsfas has received an R47.3 billion funding allocation for the 2022 academic year, which will go towards funding 691 432 students. In June, around R7.2 billion was already paid to universities to cover all allowances including books, transport, accommodation, and living allowances for 498 942 students studying at universities.
