The content on this page is not written by Polity.org.za, but is supplied by third parties. This content does not constitute news reporting by Polity.org.za.

I am today, 12 May 2011, handing over a discussion document to the Minister for Higher Education and Training, Blade Nzimande, containing a number of proposals for the reform of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS). These proposals were arrived at after consultation with students at over 30 tertiary education institutions across South Africa during April and May. We, as a South African student collective feel, if implemented, they could contribute to the development of NSFAS into a scheme that is able to offer more opportunities to more South Africans, more effectively than at present.

It has come to our attention over the past few years that there is escalating and significant unhappiness from students about the management of NSFAS, so much so that violent protests around financial aid are now surpassing education and learning as the dominant culture at our institutions of higher learning.

All South Africans deserve to be able to take their basic education further, and obtain a tertiary education. The DA Youth believes that the doors of higher learning need to be open to all South Africans that have the talent and commitment to qualify for admission to university, regardless of their circumstances, and that no individual, deserving and capable of attending a tertiary institution should be unable to on the basis of finance.

In light of the fact that only 19% of NSFAS beneficiaries have successfully graduated since the scheme’s inception, at the heart of the document is the principle that NSFAS cannot simply be a vehicle for supplying aid, but needs to shift its focus to encouraging and fostering academic excellence and ultimately graduating skilled students successfully into the market.

Some of the key proposals contained in the document are that:

• Interest is only charged when a student finishes studying and not from 1 April in the year in which they are granted a loan, as is currently the case.

• NSFAS loans can be repaid through service to the state year-on-year in a student’s field of study.

• Full course fees are paid for the most financially needy students to prevent financial exclusions.

• Loans are converted to bursaries on a sliding scale directly linked to academic performance in order to encourage academic excellence.

• Socio-economic status rather than race is used as a proxy for support to reverse the trend of historically advantaged institutions with affluent black students receiving the same NSFAS allocations as historically disadvantaged institutions with poor students.

I will today be appealing to the Minister on behalf of all students to intervene in NSFAS urgently and implement these proposals so that the doors to higher learning can be opened to all.