Cape Town – Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande says he will know by the middle of this year about the new funding model for students at universities and colleges.
This is when Nzimande will get a report from the ministerial task team he has appointed to look at the funding model for students.
Nzimande told Parliament on Wednesday there were currently 800 000 students who were funded this year.
This is an increase from more than 700 000 students who were funded last year and the number keeps increasing every year.
Nzimande said while the National Treasury has allocated additional funding for the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) for this year, there is a ministerial task team that is looking at the funding model.
“However, this is done while at the same time the department is working with a ministerial task team that I appointed in 2021 which is working on developing a full, comprehensive student financing model or student financial aid system that hopefully will bring certainty in terms of the different funding needs of students,” said Nzimande.
“We hope that by the middle of the year, one would have actually been able to finalise such a model and the necessary policy framework in order to move forward. The long and short of it is that all NSFAS qualifying students this year, who have been admitted to accredited programmes at universities and colleges, will be funded for the 2022 academic year,” said Nzimande.
He said they need to factor in the growing demand for funding as the number of students who qualify for NSFAS is growing every year when they look at the new funding model.
Political Bureau
