Students should not pay the price for NSFAS and UNISA's poor administration
13 January 2021
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has written to the University of South Africa (UNISA) and the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) asking them to clarify the decision to reduce the 2021 new student intake by 20 000.
This week Higher Education Minister, Blade Ndzimande, announced that UNISA should reduce their first-year student intake by 20 000 as compensation for the previous year’s over-enrollment by the same number. According to the Minister, NSFAS cannot financially support the vast over-enrollment error and as a result, announced the decision of the enrolment reduction.
This decision will be a major blow for first-year students who pinned their hopes on UNISA and NSFAS to kickstart their academic careers. Many of these students planned their academic year based on their initial acceptance letters from UNISA and should not be at the short end of the stick due to the university’s transgressions.
It is for this reason that the DA has written to the two institutions, to ensure accountability but also to establish whether they have turned every stone to not compromise the affected students’ studies.