CHAOS is expected at universities and colleges as the national Treasury cut the student funding by 10%.
The South African Union of Students told the Portfolio Committer on Higher Education, Science and Innovation on Wednesday, 29 November, that they anticipate a nightmare in January when registration begins.
The union secretary general Lukhanyo Daweti said the Department of Higher Education and Training needs to pay attention in ensuring that the funding scheme is stable.
“But we must say come 2024, we are foreseeing a nightmare in terms of registration, particularly accommodation crisis both at universities and TVET (Technical Vocational Education and Training) colleges,” he said.
He pointed out the success of the funded students directly depended on a stable and efficient funding scheme.
Daweti called on members of Parliament to ensure that there was “wrap around student support” for students who are coming from the poor and the working class. He said this providing coaching and mentoring which was missing at tertiary level.
“All these challenges that students face have a direct impact on their mental wellness in the sector,” he said.
He said another biggest challenge that the higher education sector faced was the shortage of quality and affordable housing units to accommodate university students.
He said the funding for the missing middle and postgraduate students remain unresolved as the funding cap has been on R350 000 since 2017.
He said it should be looked at.
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“The anticipated 10% budget cut for Nsfas will plague the sector into serious instability,” said Daweti.
He called for the scrapping off all banking charges to students and recommended that the funding be increased to R600 000.
“This is to ensure that the cohort from the missing middle is catered for,” he said.
The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (Nsfas) Board chairman Ernest Khosa told the committee they were implementing the Werksman report which, among other things, recommended solving accommodation and direct payments of funds.
He denied Nsfas accredited shacks as accommodation and called the allegations “naked mischief”.
The DA claimed during its hybrid oversight of informal settlements that there were Nsfas funded students studying at the Letaba TVET college in Madalabara, Limpopo staying in shacks.
“We can't be associated with shacks as accommodation. We distance ourselves from accreditation of shacks. We are not involved there at all. In fact, it's this kind of things that inform our direct involvement in accommodation provision,” said Khosa.
He said they were also taking the direct payment matter seriously.
Recently, Nsfas terminated contract with direct payments service providers after it was flagged as unlawful.
He said staff members involved in the payment fraud will face the music.
“In accounting terms, this amounts to irregular expenditure that must be reported to Auditor General. In law terms, this is unlawful. It's not something that we must proceed with,” said Khosa.
