by Ilanit Chernick | Jan 21, 2015 | News
PAINED: A PYA member calls for students to unite in solidarity with those unable to pay the upfront registration fee. Photo: Ilanit Chernick
Around 60 Witsies gathered at Senate House on Wednesday to protest the upfront fee expected from NSFAS students.
Students who are awaiting National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) approval have been asked to pay a registration fee of R4 670.
The protesters sang “My mother was a kitchen girl, my father was a garden boy” and chanted “NSFAS voetsek! NSFAS voetsek!” while dancing.
Members of the Wits Student Representative Council (SRC), Progressive Youth Alliance, the Wits Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and Project W attended the protest.
SRC president Mcebo Dlamini told protesters that Wits management was denying “poor students an education”. He called on Vice-chancellor Prof Adam Habib and management to waive the upfront fee.
“This has never happened at Wits. Why now? Only rich students can study here. We the students demand that you do away with these fee,” Dlamini said.
SNAP THAT: A PYA member takes photos as students protest outside the Great Hall. Photo: Ilanit Chernick
Secretary of the Wits EFF Mbe Mbhele accused NSFAS of having a policy to exclude black students at Wits and around academic institutions.
“It is only black students who are affected. This exclusion is a reflection of what is happening around South Africa. If it is not resolved we will take radical action,” Mbhele said.
Deputy Vice-chancellor of Academics Prof Andrew Crouch told Wits Vuvuzela that the upfront fee for NSFAS beneficiaries would only affect about 400 students. However, it was not possible to waive their upfront fees.
“If we waiver the fee for 400 students, which is 12 percent of students, than we would have to waiver the complete registration fee [of R9 340] for all Wits Students. We have to be fair here. Bear in mind 88% of students pay full fees,” Crouch said.
Crouch also said that the university are doing their best to deal with the situation.
He said that NSFAS give Wits four types of allocations for funding. The university is trying to move money from three of the four allocations into the NSFAS general allocation to allow for at least 400 students whose applications are pending to receive funding.
“The process will be completed by February,” he said.
Following the protest a joint press conference was held between the SRC and university management.
Habib told reporters that the issue was out of Wits’ hands and that NSFAS had given strict instructions to Wits not to go over its NSFAS bursary allocation as the university had done in 2013 and 2014.
“If we had the money to hand out we would but we just can’t at the moment.”
Habib said the reason behind the high upfront registration fee is because the government subsidy only comes into play from April each year.
“We have to make up the deficits of the first three months of the year and part of the money used to pay staff salaries and fund the university through this period is through the registration fee.”
Dlamini accused Habib of being “politically correct”.
“Our VC is playing politics,” he said. “It’s a sad moment, the university wants to eat its own like a pig.”
CALL TO ORDER: A member of the EFF calls for management to explain themselves to students. Photo: Ilanit Chernick
Dlamini also blamed Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande for not taking the NSFAS issue and the Wits SRC seriously.
“When we met with the minister he kept joking and talking about Nkandla,” Dlamini said. “We just hope he listened to us. He must start taking education seriously and allocate more money for higher education before students end up on the streets.”
Some students on Twitter had also threatened violence if students were excluded over a lack of NSFAS funding. Habib warned that violence on campus would be taken “seriously by the law”. Students found to be involved “in such actions will be expelled” with no chance to reapply to the university in the future.
by Staff Reporter | Jan 21, 2015 | News
Wits students who have pending status on the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) bursary are being asked to pay an upfront Wits registration fee, which they may not be able to afford.
STATEMENT FROM THE VICE-CHANCELLOR AND PRINCIPAL, PROFESSOR ADAM HABIB, PERTAINING TO STUDENT FUNDING AND FINANCIAL AID
The higher education sector is at risk due to a lack of substantial funding from the state and other societal actors. The amount of funding available for students in South Africa wanting to pursue tertiary education is inadequate and well below that of international norms in similar developing countries. This is a national, systemic problem that should be addressed at the highest levels of government if we are committed to investing in the future of our country.
We recognise that the funds allocated by the state to the National Students’ Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has quadrupled over the last five years to R9.5 billion. Despite this, the demand for financial aid still outstrips the availability of funds dedicated to higher education study.
Wits, like other higher education institutions in the country, administers funds on behalf of NSFAS. The amount of money allocated to universities from NSFAS in 2015 is limited and universities have been explicitly instructed not to overspend on the amounts allocated to them.
For 2015, Wits has been allocated R179 million by NSFAS, of which approximately R152 million has been offered predominantly to returning students. The R152 million has been offered to approximately 2 090 returning students and 330 new, first year students. It is anticipated that by the completion of registration in mid-February that Wits will have offered NSFAS funding to about 450 additional students. In total, NSFAS packages will be allocated to about 2 870 students at Wits this year.
The University will continue processing NSFAS applications as registration takes place over the next few weeks.
Wits has consistently awarded the most number of bursaries and scholarships in the country to its students, according to data collected by the Ministerial Committee on the Funding of Universities (see enclosed table, or click here). Last year, Wits administered about R828 million in student funding which it obtained from various internal and external sources including NSFAS, bursaries, scholarships, governments and the private sector.
The University must also stress that it informed students several times last year that they should prepare to pay their fees should there be insufficient funding from NSFAS. Other issues which are surfacing are that many students did not apply, or did not apply on time, while others submitted incomplete information which resulted in their applications not being processed timeously.
There is definitely a need for more financial aid for students throughout the country and rather than directing misguided anger towards universities, we should be approaching NSFAS, government and other sectors of society to collectively invest in developing the high level skills that our country and continent desperately requires.
Professor Adam Habib
Vice-Chancellor and Principal
by Ilanit Chernick | Jan 21, 2015 | News
Students receiving funding from government will still need to pay thousands of rands in registration fees that they may not be able to afford.
Wits students who have pending status on the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) bursary are being asked to pay an upfront Wits registration fee to be registered as a student.
The Wits registration fee is R9 340. Some students on NSFAS have been asked to pay R4 670 to be cleared for registration.
The Wits fees office manager, Daya Veerasamy, said those unable to pay the fee would not be able to register and also face exclusion for the 2015 academic year.
“The money which was allocated to the university is not enough to cover all the applicants,” Veerasamy said.
Wits released a statement on Twitter saying that despite wanting to “see students succeed”, there is “limited funding within which to operate”.
The university added: “Students [on NSFAS] were sent communication last year already that they should prepare to pay the upfront fee.”
““The money which was allocated to the university is not enough to cover all the applicants””
One prospective Witsie was told that registering students are expected to raise the registration funds “to show their commitment” to their studies.
The NSFAS Wits office could not be reached for comment.
Wits Students who have not received the outcomes on their NSFAS/bursary applications are advised to contact the Fees Office on Tel: 011 717 1546/1537.
by Lameez Omarjee | Jun 6, 2014 | News
HARD TIMES: Education students on the Funza Lushaka bursary have been struggling to make ends meet this past semester. Photo: Lameez Omarjee
Wits students in the education faculty have been going hungry as their allowance for the semester quickly ran out.
The students are recipients of the Funza Lushaka bursary, but have only been given R7000 for the entire semester, due to delays in discharging the bursary funds.
“It’s bad, I don’t have any food. I’ve become a nuisance to people, it’s really bad,” said Thando Sibiya, 2nd year BEd. I don’t know what I’m going to eat. How do they expect you to live? How am I supposed to write exams?”
Students told Wits Vuvuzela that the problem was not that there was no money; but that the payments were irregular. Unlike the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), Funza Lushaka monies are not made available on a monthly basis.
Delayed payments
Bursary officer at Education Campus, Mfundo Mbatha said payments were delayed because Funza Lushaka funds were not ready at the beginning of the year.
“Funza Lushaka is a government initiative. We have to wait for monies to be moved from National Treasury to Financial Aid,” she said. The allowances given to students at the beginning of the year were borrowed from Wits Financial Aid because the government financial year only starts in March.
Mbatha said students received R5000 at the beginning of the year for their books. He added that students were asked by email and posters “to spend the money mindfully.”
Some time after, the bursars were given R2000 for “teaching experience”, where students go out to schools for practical training, under the supervision of a qualified teacher.
Sibiya said he spent his allowance of R2000 buy formal clothing and on transport costs for the teaching experience. “Coming back here is like coming back to poverty.”
Mbatha said they tried to pay students monthly in the past but it did not work because Funza Lushaka is not like NSFAS. “Funza Lushaka has been operating this way for years,” she said. Every year at the end of June or July, students receive the first lump sum and a second one in September.
Bursars overspending
Mbatha said the students experience difficulties when they spend more than the allocated bursary amount of R75000 per year. “Students are to use money at their own discretion,” she said. When students spend more than the allocated bursary amount, at the end of the year they end up owing close to R10000.
In response to allegations that students were not given warnings in advance, Mbatha said, “We put up posters and they [students] don’t even bother to read them.”
Nonhlanhla Moholane, 3rd year BEd said, “We were warned well in advance to sort ourselves out, but not everyone has the means to sustain themselves from January to July.”
Ayshah Essop, 1st year BEd said she was awarded the Funza Lushaka bursary but because payments were late she decided to accept a bursary from the South African National Zakah Fund (SANZAF) instead. “I took the SANZAF fund because Funza [Lushaka] pays late, they only pay when the first semester is over.”
Sihle Nsibande, 2nd year BEd said, “I was on Funza Lushaka last year. Previous people who were on Funza [Lushaka] told me you first get R5000. Then after two or three months you get R18000.” The remaining monies are paid out over a number of months, according to Nsibande.
“Coming back here is like coming back to poverty.”
The delayed payments were not a problem for Nsibande because he lives at home and can depend on his parents.
“I was expecting it, but it’s different for people in different circumstances. I’m at home, I’m provided for. Other people live at res. Maybe if I was at res I would also be complaining because I’d have to take care of myself.” He also said that new students on the bursary do not know how processes work
In the meantime, Wits education lecturer Bheki Zungu, who is involved with student affairs in conjunction with the Transformation Office, has been collecting food donations and distributing them among needy students. Education Students Council (ESC) chairperson Lebang Nong has confirmed that students will receive a lump sum payment by June 30.
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by Thabile Manala | Apr 22, 2014 | Featured 1
STRUGGLE TO SURVIVE: Ontiretse Phetlhu, a former UCT student, is struggling to adapt to the Joburg lifestyle and to support himself financially. Photo: Thabile Manala
Ontiretse Phetlhu is sometimes barely able to feed himself, lives in a shanty back room and struggles with life in Joburg, his new home. But he’s a Witsie, studying to be a teacher, and his story is typical of students who hail from financially disadvantaged backgrounds and who have to juggle academic commitments with long working hours to support themselves.
[pullquote]“I have already accepted that things may not go well … I haven’t established a formula, I haven’t found my ground at Wits.” [/pullquote]
Phetlhu is a former UCT (University of Cape Town), student who has moved to Joburg to pursue a Bachelor of Education degree. He was previously a NSFAS (National Student Financial Aid Scheme) student and, with help from his mother, is supporting himself while paying back his loan.
While Phetlhu’s mother managed to pay the upfront registration fee from her savings this year, she is unable to finance his day-to-day living expenses. He previously lived in Randfontein with relatives and traveled to campus by train. But unreliable trains meant that Phetlhu was often late for morning classes.
He now rents a small room in Thokoza, but he is by no means self-sufficient and is barely able to survive because he is often without a cent in his pocket.
Both his parents have low-income jobs and are unable to assist him.
When Phetlhu appealed to the Wits accommodation office for assistance, he was told that without funding there is nothing they can do for him and that his points, (according to the university’s point system), did not qualify him for a place in res. No other options were available to him. He later turned to the SRC (Students Representatives Council) with no success. “I don’t find them helpful because their availability is questionable … these are urgent matters,” he says.
Toiletries and food packs available
Jabulile Mabuza, Campus Services Officer of the SRC, said the SRC has a limited budget. It is divided between helping the clubs and societies further their mandate to keep university life vibrant and the Humanitarian Awards used to help students. “The SRC prioritises a larger group of people who need funding to fill in the gaps than one person who needs complete funding”, said Mabuza. She encourages students to seek external funding.
Enid Schutte, a psychology lecturer at Wits, said students from a low socio-economic background are often under pressure to achieve. These students are sometimes the first in their families to make it to university and therefore “[their] anxiety levels are high”. Schutte said these students are able to get toiletry packs and food packs from the dean of students on a completely anonymous basis.
As a first time Joburger, Phetlhu also faces socio-cultural difficulties. He says: “I feel lost in this place, it’s quite sad because where I’m from, I had a support system.” The psychological burden of living in these conditions has affected his academic performance.
Phetlhu, once filled with optimism, now says: “I have already accepted that things may not go well … I haven’t established a formula, I haven’t found my ground at Wits “.
by Roxanne Joseph | Apr 11, 2014 | News
Delays in monthly allowances reaching National Student Financial Aid Schemes (NSFAS) students are making it difficult for them to make it through the month, according to the SRC.
Students have taken to Twitter with their complaints. “The universities expect students to pass on hungry stomachs. Impossible,” one student, who wished to remain unnamed, told Wits Vuvuzela.
[pullquote]“No doubt financing at universities is one of the biggest challenges we are facing in higher education. The demand exceeds supply.”[/pullquote]
The university has assisted him by providing funds to make up for NSFAS being behind with their monthly payments.
In a Wits Town Hall meeting on Tuesday afternoon, Vice Chancellor Adam Habib said: “No doubt financing at universities is one of the biggest challenges we are facing in higher education. The demand exceeds supply.”
Students whose families earn above R150 000 a year are excluded from government funding. This can still exclude a “middle-working class” family if university fees are R50 000 and living in res costs about the same, Habib said.
“We are still not capturing the vast majority and the country is never going to achieve its skills target without a more open approach to funding.”
Habib said: “Three percent (R73-million) of the Council budget has been allocated to bursaries, and the university added an extra R20-million for postgraduate studies for 2014. However, this is only the tip of the iceberg.”
Wits only receives 25% (R600-million) of government subsidies allocated to university bursaries, one of the lowest in the country. With government subsidies declining, the only way the university can “retain our income is by increasing our fees. I am very mindful of this,” he said.
He said Wits is rethinking how bursaries are allocated, namely the way it appoints merit awards. At the moment, students are given funds according to the number of As they get, but Deputy Vice Chancellor Tawana Kupe is investigating changing it to work on a points system instead.
When asked about students who cannot rely on merit awards to help fund their studies and face academic exclusion (as their marks are suffering due to a lack of funding), Habib said: “These cases of financial aid are catered for through NSFAS, but what is our mechanism to support both sets of students, as this is a legitimate concern.”
by Ray Mahlaka | Aug 2, 2013 | News
By Thuletho Zwane and Ray Mahlaka
WITS students will not be affected by a reported R42-million shortfall in the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), the university told Wits Vuvuzela.
According to media reports, the department of higher education reported the shortfall in the NSFAS budget to Parliament last month.
The announcement resulted in student protests at the University of South Africa (Unisa).
Wits financial aid status
Wits Financial Aid Office manager Busisiwe Sithole said Wits students are not affected by the constraints in the NSFAS national budget.
“Wits has not been affected by the NSFAS funding. The Unisa issue is a separate issue. Wits is alright, there are no funding issues,” Sithole said.
SRC treasurer Justice Nkomo rejected this and said 200 Wits students have been turned down for NSFAS funding.
Nkomo argued that the Wits NSFAS administration system had problems.
“The system is not perfect, the system has many loopholes,” said Nkomo. “I don’t know, if they say ‘there is no money crisis’ where is that coming from.”
Financially excluded Wits students
Nkomo said there were a number of students who were financially excluded, with some owing as much as R36 000.
He said there were students who didn’t receive NSFAS funding and instead had to receive help from the humanitarian fund.
[pullquote]”Wits has not been affected by the NSFAS funding. The Unisa issue is a separate issue. Wits is alright, there are no funding issues,”[/pullquote]The R3-million fund is an initiative by the Wits SRC and the university registrar to assist students caught in emergency situations without food and other basic needs.
“We need a permanent mechanism that handles fees. There is no plan here, there is rhetoric. We have entered into negotiation with management,” Nkomo said.
Nkomo said Wits needed permanent funding that goes to the humanitarian fund.
He said the SRC did not plan on leading a protest but would instead follow official channels to solve funding issues.
“Last year NSFAS did not open for second round because there was no money. This year there won’t be a second round. This is why we call for free education,” he said.
Second round is a decision by NSFAS to allocate more funding to students when there is enough money in the budget within the same year.
Administrative issues at Wits and Unisa
Nkomo said administrative issues within NSFAS at Wits can also be attributed to students not submitting all documents during the application process, which leads to their applications being denied.
Unisa SRC secretary general Ayanda Mngadi said the university is using its own money to fund students as NSFAS said, “they don’t have money”.
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NSFAS Central Application System launches next year, May 16, 2013
Financial Aid funding late again, March 28, 2011
editor@witsvuvuzela.com
by Liesl Frankson | May 16, 2013 | News
Director General of Higher Education and Training Gwebs Qonde told a workshop in Pretoria this year that the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) planned to follow through with their plans for a Central Application system in 2014.
What this means is that institutions of higher learning, like Wits, will lose their power to decide on student loans. The new system will allow students to apply for financial aid either directly to NSFAS or a central body created for this purpose.
The system aims to create and maintain effective admin to improve student’s access to NSFAS through direct forms of communication like cellphones, the internet and social media. Money will be paid directly into the accounts of students for transport, accommodation, tuition and food, and by so doing NSFAS will be keeping a close watch on expenditure.
Qonde said that NSFAS was inefficient because its systems were outdated and they needed to be adapted as a result of corrupt and inefficient officials in some institutions. The programme will ultimately reposition the whole of NSFAS to provide more effective financial aid that is able to cover more students and improve the recovery rate for the loans thus allowing NSFAS to fulfill its mandate.
However some officials doubt the proposed new system because thousands of beneficiaries do not complete their courses. NSFAS plans to counter this situation with supporting programmes in collaboration with universities and other stakeholders to give students the best chance of graduating.
Wits Vuvuzela asked the Manager of Financial aid and Scholarships at Wits, Busisiwe Sithole, for comment on the new system. She declined to comment stating, “I do not have answers or comments on the New Centralized system as we have not started to use it.”
Additional Resources
Wits Vuvuzela March 28 2011: Financial Aid Funding late again
Wits Vuvuzela March 26 2012: No money, no food
by Yanga Soji | Jul 28, 2011 | News
Wits University`s Financial Aid and Scholarship Office has been voted as the “Best Performing Office” at a recent awards ceremony honouring financial aid practitioners.
The biggest winner was the office head, Busi Sithole, who was appointed as the new president of the Financial Aid Practitioners of South Africa (FAPSA).
FAPSA is an umbrella body of all the financial aid practitioners representing both Higher and Further Education and Training Colleges in South Africa, including National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).
On top of Sithole`s major recognition, Wits was awarded as the “Best Performing Financial Aid Office,” as voted for by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS). The scheme also recognised Nombini Nteyi, supervisor of the Wits NSFAS team, with a certificate for her “Outstanding Contribution”, while FAPSA gave the Wits Office a certificate for its “Outstanding Service and Contribution in Improving the Lives of Students”.
Sithole said she was humbled and honoured by the task appointed to her, telling the Wits communications office, “the FAPSA conference has bestowed their trust on me as a new president, but I do realise this is a big challenge and I am committed to rise to the challenge and continue to improve the quality of the student`s experience across institutions of higher learning.”
SRC fundraising officer Wandile Sishange congratulated the office and Sithole, but said there was more work to be done towards helping needy students, “As the SRC we would to congratulate the office of NSFAS and also sis` Busi for the achievements they`ve received to recognise them as the best, even though we have our own view about who is supposed to actually recognise the office as the best. From our side we still have a bit of hiccups with the office so we would like to hear feedback from our students who interact with NSFAS what they think about the office.”
Wandile added that NSFAS has been very helpful towards the SRC but the main concern is towards making sure that the system works for students.
