At the beginning of the 2023 academic year, Higher Education Minister Dr Blade Nzimande announced that some of the country’s public universities registration period ran from 16 January 2023 up until 20 February 2023.
These institutions allowed late registrations due to the delayed release of the National Senior Certificate examinations results.
The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) also assured students who had received funding that they need not worry about paying an initial fee as the Scheme committed to covering it.
It is during the registration period that some students were finalised, but their funding was still under review.
When it comes to students who are still under review, it has been found that these students have submitted an appeal for their funding through the government bursary scheme.
In a statement, NSFAS clarified that the opportunity to submit an appeal is mainly for prospective bursary recipients whose application for funding has been rejected and continuing students whose financial aid has been withdrawn for the current academic year.
Should students submit an appeal, they will need to be aware that NSFAS might reconsider their decision but it will also depend on budget availability.
An Independent Appeals Tribunal, made up of a team of stakeholders in the Higher Education sector was established.
It has been a month since the Tribunal started working on NSFAS appeals, and communication will be sent to the relevant students by next week.
The main objective of the Appeals Tribunal is to provide effective management of appeals from students whose applications for funding have been rejected, or discontinued funding.
Should a student’s NSFAS appeal be successful, they will receive funding from that includes of several allowances to cover additional costs related to their studies as well as fully paid tuition and accommodation fees.
