NSFAS Latest News Today 8th February On Allowance Increase
In todays latest NSFAS News – The National Student Financial Aid Scheme aims to improve student allowances. Student government supports the financial aid package.According to Minister of Higher Education and Training Blade Nzimande, the National Student Financial Aid Scheme boosted student allowances earlier this year (Nsfas).
Nsfas provides several college scholarships and grants. Housing, travel, food, and books are included.
Nzimande raised all Nsfas benefits by 7%. Living/food stipends will increase by 10%.
The 2023 Nsfas rises delight SAUS. They also promised a greater student food allocation with their donation.
The Department of Higher Education and Training first raised Nsfas meal stipends by 5%. (DHET). However, the union said the government and Nsfas had to raise the initial hike after extensive negotiations.
“Initially the department with Nsfas had proposed and approved a 5% increase in the food allowances,” they said, “but after rigorous and militant deliberations, we are more than delighted to announce that we have been able to force the government and Nsfas to increase food allowance by 10%, which effectively is R150 a month.”
The union appreciates the rise but realizes it is insufficient given the economy. Students’ Nsfas allowances were last raised in 2018, so it’s been a while.
Given that allowances were last hiked in 2018, even a 10% increase is clearly insufficient, yet a significant triumph for our struggles.
SAUS applauds Nsfas’s case-by-case student stipend distribution. In 2022, the financial aid program will offer direct payment, giving students more control over their money.
“We have also called for a more efficient, secure, and cheaper disbursements of student allowances for almost a decade, and we believed this would be achieved by the direct payments of allowances to Nsfas beneficiaries, so we welcome this decision by Nsfas as a positive step toward this ideal,” the union said.
Middlemen handled student allowances before. This caused errors, duplicate payments, and unlawful beneficiary allowance access.
The new direct payment mechanism gives students Nsfas debit cards. Nsfas debit cards give students complete funding and convenience.
