NSFAS delays disrupt registration at WSU and UKZN

While registration is well under way at most universities, the National Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) delay in confirming successful applications and payments made to students has disrupted the registration process.

The registration process at Walter Sisulu University (WSU) was stopped on Tuesday by a group of protesting students who demanded they be allowed to register despite not having NSFAS confirmation for funding. According to Yonela Tukwayo, WSU’s spokesperson, students from Buffalo City and Nelson Mandela campuses removed staff from buildings.

Tukwayo told Dispatch Live that students were trying to “force the hand of the university to admit all the students without registration and NSFAS guarantee”. She went on to say that with the university’s historical debt, WSU cannot afford to take students who will not be able to pay the fees.

WSU Student Representative Council (SRC) disagrees with the university. The SRC has demanded that the university accepts returning students who were rejected by NSFAS because of their poor academic performance. The SRC also wants the university to permit students from non-paying fee schools to register despite not having NSFAS confirmation.

Meanwhile the University of KwaZulu Natal (UKZN) has acknowledged that there are more than 5,000 students waiting for NSFAS funding. UKZN spokesperson Lesiba Seshoka told East Coast Radio that the university hopes that the funding issue is resolved with speed.

Seshoka said, “We are aware that there are some difficulties here and there in relation to NSAFS administrations.” He also said the university is hopeful the funding issue will be sorted out with haste.

Kuhlekonke Ntuli, SRC president, spoke out and has made it clear that the SRC wants to ensure that no student is excluded for financial reasons. Ntuli said, “As the SRC, we are confronted with an issue that NSFAS is a bit delayed, so has not responded to every student. This means that some students have not registered because NSFAS has to contribute to their registration.”

Yesterday an online petition asking for NSFAS to be opened for rejected and pending students started. The petition is calling on NSFAS and the Department of Higher Education and Training to stop rejecting deserving students. So far the petition has 1 560 signatures.