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Student Funding Matters: Progress and Interventions

This briefing provides an update on the progress and interventions made in addressing challenges at NSFAS, including the development of a new student funding policy and plans for the 2019 funding cycle.

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Student Funding Matters: Progress and Interventions

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  1. Department of Higher Education and Training Briefing on Student Funding Matters relating to Universities and TVET Colleges Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training 16 August 2018

  2. Matters for Discussion Intervention and Progress Progress and interventions made in addressing the challenges at NSFAS The DHET has an oversight role over NSFAS Progress made in relation to the development of a policy to support the implementation of the new DHET bursary programme, including the standardisation of allowances, the service and ethical requirements of students and other matters Update on the assessment and payment of historic debt Plans for the 2019 student funding cycle

  3. Intervention and Progress On 3 May 2018 the Minister wrote to the Board of NSFAS giving them a directive to urgently finalise the integration of data between NSFAS and institutions as a result of delays in confirming funding decisions for some students This followed intensive engagement between NSFAS and DHET and USAf on the implementation of funding for the 2018 academic year, which commenced in 2017 The Department assisted and sent in a development support team consisting of financial aid experts from the TVET college and university sectors from 15 May 2018 to 30 June 2018 The NSFAS Board also appointed a sub-committee to oversee NSFAS management’s progress on the 2018 application cycle at their 28 May 2018 Board meeting

  4. Intervention and Progress Minister met with the NSFAS Board on 4 June 2018 and gave a clear directive that the Board should ensure and satisfy itself that progress is made on all issues: confirming funding, integrating data, signing bursary agreements and making payments to students Progress was made in terms of getting a better understanding of the data and the system challenges at NSFAS and making decisions about resolving urgent matters NSFAS systems were not working well and the NSFAS management had not been able to solve these issues for some months. As the work progressed, new data problems surfaced Some 2017 student funding issues remained unresolved and some students from Quintiles 1, 2 and 3 schools still do not have funding finalised in 2017 and 2018. NSFAS has agreed that these will be finalised by mid-August 2018

  5. Intervention and Progress The 2018 cycle is still subject to unacceptable delays, mostly linked to data integration issues. However, the majority of students in universities have been paid, as a result of support from institutions A major area of concern has been the reliability of the statistics on confirmed registration data, the generation of NSFAS Bursary Agreements (NBAs), disbursement and payments to sBux and non-sBux institutions Despite the daily support of departmental officials and DHET support teams, NSFAS was not able to put in place adequate solutions to address the problems coherently and quickly The Minister directed the Board on 16 July 2018 not to open the new 2019 funding cycle, which was due to open on the 1 August 2019 and to focus on overseeing the close out of the 2017 and 2018 funding cycles

  6. Intervention and Progress The Board’s progress report submitted on 3 August 2018 showed that there had not been adequate improvement since the Department’s development support team had left at the end of June 2018 The Chairperson and two additional members of the Board resigned in the first week of August 2018 The Minister called an emergency Board meeting on Friday, 10 August 2018 to discuss their response and a way forward After discussion, the Board requested that the Minister place NSFAS under Administration. The Minister appointed a new Chairperson, proposed by the Board, to govern the institution until such time as an Administrator is appointed and the Board is formally dissolved The immediate task of the Administrator is to ensure the effective close out of 2017 and 2018 funding decisions and disbursements, as well as to put in place plans for the 2019 funding cycle. Responsibilities will be clearly outlined in the Terms of Reference for the Administrator

  7. Intervention and Progress A support team with the relevant skills in student financial aid, human resources management, information technology and business systems analytics, and any other required skills identified by the Administrator will be put in place The 2019 applications will be opened early in September 2018 and an effective plan for delivering student financial aid, which will involve the support and collaboration of universities and TVET colleges will be developed within the next month. Work has already begun on this An intensive communications campaign to inform all 2019 prospective students of the process for applications will be implemented

  8. Student funding policy Work has started on the development of a new student funding policy for students at universities and TVET colleges Processes are underway to develop the first draft of the policy The draft national policy on student funding will be further consulted through a reference group, consisting of NSFAS, USAF, SAUS, SAFETSA, FAPSA, SACPO and officials from the Department. The first meeting with the reference group was held on 7 August 2018 This policy will include the academic, service and ethical requirements of students linked to receiving the funding The final draft will be released for public comment and stakeholder engagement by 30 October 2018

  9. Standardisation of food allowances at universities Standard allowances for First Time Entry students (FTENs) have been approved for implementation in the 2018 academic year R13 500 per annum is the standard meal allowance for FTENs in 2018 Meal allowances for senior university students have been increased to R13 500 at institutions where the allowance was below the agreed FTENs allowance in 2018 Where food allowances were higher than the FTEN standardized allowance, they were not increased Other allowances (accommodation and transport) are currently set in line with existing institutional policies

  10. Due diligence on student debt at universities In terms of an agreement between universities and the Department, all returning NSFAS-qualifying students with university debt have been allowed to register in 2018, provided that they signed an Acknowledgement of Debt form Where the tuition and university managed accommodation is more than the 2018 NSFAS cap of R83 600 for senior students, an additional debt will be incurred and will be included in the determination of student debt Universities must submit information according to an agreed template by 30 September 2018 A review of the business processes and systems of NSFAS is still planned and the details of this will be announced once the Administrator has commenced work

  11. Thank you

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