The Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) Minister Dr. Blade Nzimande mentioned that in this academic year, the department has implemented new monitoring tools and strategies to lay the foundation for a successful academic year.
These interventions are to help the Post School Education and Training (PSET) sector to overcome the traditional bottlenecks that normally affect its system at the beginning of the academic year, such as admissions, registration, student financial aid and accommodation.
Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Colleges started their academic and training programme on 23 January 2023, whilst Community Colleges began their academic year in line with the Basic Education calendar in January 2023.
Currently, institutions of higher learning are wrapping up their first academic year but some students at uMfolozi TVET College claim that they are still struggling with registration and accommodation.
In an interview, the institution’s Student Representative Council (SRC) President Zilungisele Zulu said:
Students are going home today, but we don’t know where they will stay or when they will come back because their money has not come through.
One of the student leaders has also reiterated that it's April already but some of the students haven’t yet received their funds from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).
Although Nzimande does acknowledge the students' struggles, the Minister has also pointed out that many factors are involved.
“Late applications and the late publications of matric results put a lot of pressure on us in order to be able to do this,” added Nzimande.
DHET has placed NSFAS representatives in public universities and TVET Colleges who are dealing with those kinds of problems.
The Minister has also warned that issues faced by NSFAS should not be interpreted as a sign of NSFAS being in disarray.
Higher Education has also indicated that there plans to address the issue of student accommodation, hence the department is currently making arrangements with private accommodation providers.
