Students barred from graduating due to outstanding fees will now have the opportunity to put on their gowns, cross the stage and throw their mortarboards in the air alongside their former classmates, as loans will be made available for them to pay off their university debts.
Students barred from graduating due to outstanding fees will now have the opportunity to put on their gowns, cross the stage and throw their mortarboards in the air alongside their former classmates, as loans will be made available for them to pay off their university debts.
It is official that the Department of Higher Education and Training and the National Student Financial Aid Scheme have allocated funds to help students settle debts incurred between 2000 and 2010.
In his budget speech in May, Minister of Higher Education, Blade Nzimande, announced that they had allocated R200 million to the financial aid scheme, to be loaned to students who could not receive their qualifications due to outstanding fees. ‘’Until recently, things were still in the process of negotiations. We were waiting for statements from the minister,’’ said the organisation's Asanda Mhluzana.
Universities are in the process of contacting their former students to make arrangements.
According to an article in Sowetan Live last Monday, Rhodes, Walter Sisulu and Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Universities were the only institutions that had not made arrangements for their former students.
Rhodes University Student Funding Officer, Luyanda Bheyile, said the allocation has been approved. ‘’The only reason we haven't advertised this is because the first circular was received in June and students were on vacation at that time,’’ said Bheyile, and that they had yet to make contact with the eligible students.
He said about 218 final year students are on the NSFAS scheme, but he was unable to say the exact number of students who had been barred from graduating.
Although there has been confusion as to how students go about applying for the funds, Muzi Khumalo, Communications Chief Director of the Department of Higher Education and Training, said the money would be allocated only after certain steps had been taken.
He said it was the duty of the university’s financial officers to provide the names and details of former students who had been barred from graduating, so that the department could make the appropriate allocations.
He emphasised that these were not bursaries, but rather loans, which the students would have to pay back. The department estimates that around 25 000 students may be eligible. ‘’We have advertised extensively to inform students about this news, so they can approach their former institutions,” said Khumalo.
He said no deadline had been set yet. For more information, students should contact the financial aid offices of their former institutions, or email info@nsfas.org.za.
