In an effort to avoid more student protests in 2016, government will make more than R4,5bn available to the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) to provide short-term debt relief to students, the presidency said on Friday.
According to a report compiled by a task team appointed by President Jacob Zuma to investigate funding at universities, the NSFAS’s shortfall was R4,5bn.
“The report recommends that R2,5bn of this amount must be made available from the fiscus, in the form of loans to provide short-term debt relief to 71 753 students who were funded inadequately or were unable to access financial aid over the 2013 to 2015 academic years,” Zuma said in a statement.
A further R2bn required for the 2016/2017 financial year, to ensure that continuing students who were currently not receiving NSFAS funding, would also come from the fiscus, he said.
In October, Zuma announced a 0% fee increase in university tuition fees for 2016. The decision came after students across the country rallied behind a #FeesMustFall campaign. They had called for their student debt to be cleared, for no tuition fee increases, and for the ANC’s promise of free education to be realised in their lifetime.
While people had the right to protest in a democracy, students, their leaders, and other organisations should reject destruction of university property, Zuma said. — News24
