Chairperson, since taking office I have met with different stakeholders, including the leadership of Higher Education South Africa, Hesa, to discuss several issues pertaining to the higher education sector. As I said, I am also going to be having further consultations on a variety of issues.
The National Student Financial Aid Scheme, NSFAS, remains the flagship vehicle by which government supports poor and academically deserving students. NSFAS continues to provide support to needy students who cannot afford to pay for their fees. In 2008, 153 795 students were supported by means of the scheme and since its inception NSFAS has distributed approximately R12,2 billion to needy students.
On 15 June 2009, I appointed a ministerial committee to review the National Student Financial Aid Scheme. The key objectives are to assess the strength and shortcomings of the current National Student Financial Aid Scheme, and to advise on the short, medium and long-term needs for student financial aid. The two objectives aim to promote the twin goals of equity of access and provision of free undergraduate education to students from working class and poor communities who cannot afford further or higher education. The review will evaluate different models of student financial aid, and make recommendations on the policy and operational changes required to ensure the effective and efficient achievement of these goals. It is envisaged that a final report will be submitted by December 2009.
With your permission, Chairperson, let me state here that part of this review also wants to respond to the problem of students who get assistance for tuition and accommodation but do not have any money for food. That creates many problems. We want to look at how we can actually give comprehensive support to poor students, especially to ensure that those who deserve support are not deprived of higher education because they come from poor families.
The last point is that next month I will be meeting with all the chairpersons of higher education councils to discuss, amongst other things, the issue of financial exclusions. We will be convening this meeting because we want to be able to respond better to this challenge by engaging before it actually overwhelms us. Thank you very much.