Mounting student debt is threatening higher education’s future sustainability and stifling infrastructure development, says Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande.
He said the debt had reached R16.5 billion.
Speaking on Tuesday at a media briefing in Pretoria about the department’s readiness for the 2023 academic year, Nzimande said higher education was hard at work with developing an alternative funding model for university and technical vocational education and training (TVET) college students.
He said the department would present the model in Parliament after consultations with relevant stakeholders.
Nzimande said students who fell in the “missing middle” category were also a concern for the department.
Students in this category do not qualify for National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) funding but cannot afford to pay TVET or university tuition.
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“We will direct loans and bursaries and direct these efforts towards students located within the scarce skills category.
“We will also work with universities to say those students who are willing to acknowledge debt must also be admitted, hoping it is the last time we make these arrangements [before the new funding model comes into effect],” he said.
The minister said NSFAS received more than a million applications. He said most applicants were beneficiaries of the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) grants.
He said although this was a high number, it would likely decrease as not all applicants had passed matric.
He said Sassa beneficiaries who passed received funding approval.
“All the institutions will register all NSFAS-funded students without paying any upfront registration fees. As a government, we are committing to the children of the working class and the poor,” he said.
Students who wish to apply for NSFAS funding for 2023 have just one week left to submit their applications.
NSFAS applications for funding opened on 28 September 2022 and will close on 31 January 2023.
News24, SANews.gov.za
