NSFAS facing funding shortfall for new students

Higher Education and Training Minister, Dr Blade Nzimande, says the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has been unable to finalise funding for new university students, as the scheme is facing a funding shortfall for 2021.

Explaining the reasons for the shortfall at a media briefing on 2021 funding decisions for prospective students, Nzimande said that due to COVID-19, NSFAS had to continue paying allowances to students, even at the time when universities were closed, to give students access to multimodal learning and teaching.

“This means we had an extended academic year, for which we did not allocate additional money,” Nzimande said on Monday.

Another reason for the shortfall, the Minister said, was due to budget cuts across government departments, as well as the deteriorating economic situation. Nzimande said many applicants, who previously did not meet the funding requirements for NSFAS, now do, as the majority of their parents lost their jobs due to COVID-19.

“Of cause not all these shortfalls are due to COVID-19 alone. The deteriorating situation associated with budget cuts started a long time ago before COVID-19.

“In terms of the laws and policies regulating public finances for departments and entities, including the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), NSFAS is not able to commit to funding students without the requisite budget available to support this commitment,” Nzimande said.

Nzimande said the department has made an agreement with all public universities to extend the registration period for first time entering students for two weeks, so that students are not disadvantaged by the delay in the finalisation of NSFAS funding.