“I am pleased that the 2019 application process has performed well in terms of systems, applications received, as well as user experience,” said Minister of Higher Education Naledi Pandor. Pandor was speaking at a media briefing hosted with National Student Financial Aid Scheme (Nsfas) administrator Dr Randall Carolissen in Cape Town on applications for 2019. Here are the main takeaways from the briefing.
Nsfas received over 400,000 applications!
Pandor said a team is at work to process over 400,000 Nsfas applications it received between September to December for financial support to study at tertiary institutions in 2019. On average, that means the scheme received 3,200 applications per day. According to Nsfas, 63% of the applications were from female students and the rest were from male students.
The backlog is being dealt with
The financial aid scheme came under fire in 2018 for failing having inadequate systems in place to deal with the backlog of payments for the past financial year. But all is well and the backlog has largely been dealt with. This is largely thanks to Carolissen, who has been tasked to ensure that funding cycles for 2019 go smoothly, Pandor said.
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There are billions allocated to Nsfas
Nsfas will disburse R32 billion to more than 777,000 students at tertiary institutions in 2019. In 2018, Nsfas disbursed loans and bursaries of R22 billion but this is expected to increase next year to R32 billion. This amount is estimated to fund about 400,920 TVET college students and 377,050 university students.
#NSFAS #Pandor says she is pleased to report that progress has been made to process the disbursements- with R3.2bn disbursed to university and TVET colleges. pic.twitter.com/bGRzXa8fsg
SA Gov News (@SAgovnews) December 4, 2018
There are systems in place to deal with those who missed the application deadline
The application deadline was originally 30 December but was extended to midnight on 2 December. Pandor said that Nsfas has systems in place to deal with those who didn’t meet the 2 December application deadline, and who plan to apply for funding at registration in 2019.
Applicants will receive word on applications in January
Applicants will receive an SMS or an email early in January which will inform them whether or not they meet the criteria for financial support. This is provided that said applicants have already been accepted at an institution of learning.
Pandor has also appealed to students to inform Nsfas if they change their mobile number.
#NSFAS #Pandor says the scheme is currently in the process of evaluating all applications received. It checks if the students are eligible for funding. To qualify for funding, students must meet financial eligibility criteria, register at an institution for an approved Programme pic.twitter.com/L90NAMbguu
SA Gov News (@SAgovnews) December 4, 2018
