Chairperson, the National Student Financial Aid Scheme has requested institutions to provide information on underspending in order to redistribute funds to needy students within the current academic year, that is those funds that have not been spent. The Department of Higher Education and Training has also been monitoring this matter very closely. Secondly, as I have pointed out before, I appointed a review committee to look into the National Student Financial Aid Scheme in July 2009, and I expect the report before the end of this year.
The overall purpose of the review is to assess the strengths and shortcomings of the current scheme and to be advised on the short, medium and long-term needs of student financial aid in order to promote the twin goals of equity of access and the provision of free undergraduate education for students from working class and poor communities who cannot afford further or higher education.
The review will evaluate different modules of student financial aid and make recommendations on the policy and operational changes required to ensure the effective and efficient achievement of these goals, which will enable South Africa to produce graduates with the qualifications and skills required to build our developmental state. Ngiyabonga. [Thank you.] [Applause.]
Chairperson, hon Minister, we thank you for the response given. However, we want to emphasise that the ANC has identified education as one of its priorities in its manifesto, and access to higher education by deserving students, in particular, is its main focus.
We urge the department, accordingly, to prioritise this matter in order to ease the burden on poor households regarding the overall cost of higher education. The portfolio committee's recent oversight visits to the areas of Giyani, Muyexe, amongst other areas, exposed the members to the urgent need for us to attend to this challenge facing our students.
Higher education institutions should be monitored closely to ensure that the implementation of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, NSFAS, is fair, consistent and efficient, as is required. Thank you.
Chairperson, hon member Makhubele, thanks for that comment. We fully agree with you. And as I have said, we are indeed monitoring very closely how the National Student Financial Aid Scheme is performing.
In addition, once the report and its recommendations reach my office - much as we are aware that we need to move fast on this matter - I will make sure, nevertheless, that we publish that report and try to provide an opportunity for the public, especially the affected constituencies, to be able to comment on those recommendations and to enrich them so that we are able to ensure that what Mr Makhubele is concerned about is addressed. Ngiyabonga. [Thank you.] [Applause.]
Chairperson, hopefully my question this time around won't be ruled a new question. Hon Minister, many universities, if not all of them, require registration fees to be paid upfront, which many students can't afford. And, often, financial aid comes too late to assist these students. What plans does the Minister have to assist such disadvantaged students? I thank you.
Sihlalo, ngiyabonga baba uMpontshane, cha ngizokuphendula, awuphambuki. [Chairperson, thank you, hon Mpontshane, I will respond to you, and yes, you are on the right track.]
I would like to mention two things. The matter that you are raising is a very valid matter. For instance, we are concerned as a department that many students, including poor students, sometimes have to apply to eight or nine institutions with each requiring an admission fee. That is where the problem starts.
That is why my department, amongst other things, is seriously exploring the question of having a central admissions office so that students can apply to one centre, and we then send those applications to different institutions.
Secondly, coming directly to the question that you are asking, one of the things that we want the review of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme to look into is precisely the problem of many institutions requiring registration fees that are not covered by the financial aid scheme, and for very poor students, that rules them out because that becomes a condition for actually accessing a loan. We would like the review committee to look into all that in order to ensure that poor students who are deserving and capable are not, by any means, excluded through this upfront demand for a registration fee when they cannot afford it. Thank you. [Applause.]
Thank you, hon Minister. I think it is a well-known fact that the current financial aid that is provided to students, more especially the underprivileged and needy ones, continues to be even more of a burden than it is to access financial aid, because in terms of the number of students that have accessed financial aid until now, the system has not been able to provide a clear track record of those students that are qualified and obtained their qualifications as a result of having obtained this financial aid. After having obtained this financial assistance, they continue to be burdened by having to repay the loan without having qualified.
I want to check with the Minister if there are any plans in place to design a mechanism to be more flexible and better able to make sure that these students, after they have attained this assistance, are able to be tracked and that they get their qualifications and get to repay their loans.
Sihlalo, cha Anele ubuza kahle ke namhlanje ntombi, engathi nokho kuyazamazama kona, uyakhula ntombi. Siyabonga. [Ihlombe.] [Uhleko.] [Chairperson, Anele, you asked a good question today, my girl. You are getting better and better, and that is a sign of maturity, my girl. Thank you. [Applause.] [Laughter.]]
The question that you are asking is very important in the sense that one of the things that we are looking at is to further capacitate the National Student Financial Aid Scheme to be able to track students - those who complete their studies and those who drop out. We do that, but we do recognise that the information system still needs to be strengthened. Secondly, on the issue of the burden, I just want to say that part of the review committee's work is precisely to look into all those things. For instance, let me give you an example which you might not have mentioned. I know of a case of a student who was assisted 10 years ago by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme. She was given a loan of R3 000 and now she owes R16 000.
Firstly, it is illegal to charge interest on the original capital that you had actually loaned. We are also looking at blacklisted students to find out the reasons for that blacklisting, and that is one of the tasks that we have actually given to the review committee. But we are not waiting for the review committee to finish. Where we pick up problems, we will deal with them in such a way that if there are any specific issues or problems that you want to raise ...
... hhayi, umnyango waloMnyango Wemfundo Ephakeme ntombi uvulekile. Siyabonga. [Ihlombe.] [... our doors at the Department of Higher Education and Training are open, my girl. Thank you. [Applause.]]
Chair, I think the Minister is hiding behind his review committee. He is unresponsive to the needs. The question is: Why doesn't he take emergency measures and change the current threshold by making a simple change in the regulations or by proclamation. The current income threshold levels do not meet the needs of the working class or the lower middle class. The English poet Edward Young once said that "Procrastination is the thief of time." In the case of the hon Minister's slow response to the student financial aid question, Carl Marx would have added that "Procrastination in the action of the bourgeoisie state denies the working class." Of course, Marx had Catholic habits. Thank you.
Chair, Catholics usually make good communists like Chris Hani, because of the discipline of the Catholic Church and its commitment to the working class and the poor.
Hon James, I think that it's unfair to actually say that we are procrastinating. We are also singling out the issue of a R120 000 threshold being too low. You may well be right, but in our wisdom, we said there are many challenges that are facing the National Student Financial Aid Scheme.
We can't act in a fragmented manner and say we are now going to raise the R120 000 threshold - to whatever figure, and on the basis of whatever assessment of the nature and extent of the need that we are facing. This is because I need to get that from the review committee.
For instance, there are other dilemmas that we are faced with. Do you give financial aid to as many poor students as possible but cover between 50% and 90% of their needs, or do you focus on fewer students and provide complete loans or complete bursaries? All those are issues that we have to deal with. I can't be accused of procrastinating. I am expecting a report in early December.
Let's deal with the problem in its totality, and once the report is out, as I have said, you will be able to engage with it and add your views and all that. This committee was appointed precisely because we have identified that there are a number of problems. So, I can't be forced to just act rationally, and so on. Rather, give yourself a bit more time in order to provide a better solution. Thank you. [Applause.]
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