As one of the most sought-after government-funded bursaries, NSFAS plays a crucial role in limiting the financial barriers to entry to Higher Education for many young South Africans who cannot afford it. This is in part why an application backlog has resulted in disruptions to the student funding
This backlog has prevented many deserving students from accessing financial assistance, leading to a severe decline in enrollment in higher education institutions. Fortunately, the Department of Higher Education (DHET) has recently stated that the NSFAS backlog has been drastically reduced.
The backlog has largely been attributed to the submission of the required supporting documents. As it currently stands, the scheme’s application backlog has been reduced by more than 100,000 applications according to Higher Education Director General, Nkosinathi Sishi.
I think that where Nsfas struggled was to ensure that the documentation presented is aligned to the requirements of Nsfas. We have, in one day reduced those backlogs from 200 000 to 97 000 young people
This serves as a reassuring development for many tertiary students who have been waiting for confirmation of their student funding application. However, this has not shielded the bursary scheme from criticism, as members of the DHET’s portfolio committee called out the scheme for underspending, which leads to underperformance.
"As the portfolio committee, we need to discourage the department from having an understanding of a culture or and there is a need that us to do away with this. The underperformance in terms of targets not met. We've seen that there is consistent regression in particular targets that are not being met over the three past consecutive quarters “ Said a DA portfolio committee Member.
The department also pointed out that ongoing load shedding has also played a significant role in its difficulties in processing applications, verifying student information, and disbursing funds on time, particularly at its regional offices.
Despite this, the DHET has also stated that they are making progress in addressing the issue, adding that they have finalised the consultation process and will soon table a report to the cabinet for approval.
