During the Covid-19 pandemic, a number of restrictions were introduced across the world and this includes schools being closed.
In South Africa, universities were forced to transition from face-to-face to online learning (e-learning) as a result of the pandemic.
Cedric Mpungose, who is an academic at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, said various challenges hinder disadvantaged students from realising the full potential of e-learning.
The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (Nsfas) responded by launching the digital device programme, and a number of laptops were delivered to tertiary students through a formal procurement process.
Nsfas had acknowledged that students didn’t only require laptops, and made provision of data in predetermined timeframes.
In a statement, Nsfas chairperson, Ernest Khosa announced:
Nsfas is currently engaging mobile network operators to enter into partnership agreements to develop a specified Nsfas student device package.
According to Khosa, the student device package will include a laptop and pre-loaded data on a monthly basis.
The government bursary scheme has envisioned for its bursary recipients to procure the discounted student packages with their monthly allowances and Nsfas aims to conclude this process during the first quarter of the 2023 academic year.
In the previous two academic years, Nsfas was under fire due to budget shortfalls, making students feel uncertain about their prospects of being funded.
As the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) prepared for the 2023 academic year, it confirmed that things have turned around and this academic year will have a seamless start.
The department has received a budget allocation of R47.6 billion for student funding, which has been split in the following way for public tertiary institutions:
- Universities - R38.6 billion
- Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Colleges - R8.9 billion
Annually, the student funding is received in four tranche payments in the months of April, June, August, and October.
Nsfas anticipates making upfront payments to universities and TVET Colleges, this will help minimise the financial impact to institutions.
