Newly appointed higher education & training minister Buti Manamela has promised to stabilise the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) and craft a new funding model for the sector.
NSFAS is the government’s agency for providing financial support to eligible students studying at tertiary education institutions. It has been plagued by controversy for years and faces persistent complaints from students over its failures to pay their accommodation and living allowances on time.
It was placed under administration for the second time last year after corruption allegations against former CEO Andile Nongogo and former chairperson Ernest Khosa, and still does not have a permanent CEO five months after Freeman Nomvalo’s term as administrator ended on March 5.
“In the next three months, we will stabilise NSFAS and set in motion a sustainable student funding model,” Manamela said on Tuesday. “We’ve already started engagements with the Treasury,” he said.
A central database is to be established to prevent students from registering with multiple education institutions simultaneously and claiming more than once from NSFAS, he said.
Manamela was appointed minister on July 21 after President Cyril Ramaphosa fired his predecessor Nobuhle Nkabane for lying to parliament about the appointment of ANC-aligned individuals as sector education and training authorities (Seta) board chairs.
Outlining his plans for the sector, Manamela said he intended to establish a post-school education and training re-engineering task team to redesign the system.
“We will strengthen Setas, finalise their realignment, and ensure every Seta delivers measurable value,” he said.
The 21 Setas are intended to bridge the gap between school and workplace with skills training, but many are mired in allegations of corruption and mismanagement. Only nine Setas received a clean audit from the auditor-general in 2023/24, the most recent year for which data is available.
The department of higher education & training planned to launch three projects: Skills to Work Transitions, targeting the millions of young people who are not employed, in education or training; Career Choices, aimed at school learners; and Adult Literacy, targeting the estimated 4-million people who are functionally illiterate.
DA spokesperson on higher education Matlhodi Maseko welcomed Manamela’s promise to fix the NSFAS urging him to ensure the organisation implemented a reliable ICT system.
Dependable ICT infrastructure was crucial for NSFAS to pay eligible students timeously and track disbursements to higher education institutions and accommodation providers, she said.
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