Greenlight given to extend university registration by two weeks
Higher Education Minister says there are delays in confirming funding eligibility for first-time students.
Blade Nzimande says this is because of a shortfall faced by the NSFAS financial aid scheme.
A number of first-time university students have not yet been registered.
Nzimande says the department has given universities the green light to extend the registration period by another two weeks for first-time enrolments.
"I'm aware that this has caused great anxiety, given that the academic year is about to start. There are a few reasons why we are having this shortfall.
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"We have for instance to continue to pay NSFAS students allowances when universities and colleges were closed. Secondly, the budget and thirdly the deteriorating economic situation."
He says there were many NSFAS applicants who were not previously meeting the funding requirements for NSFAS now do.
Due to COVID-19, a majority of them qualifies because their parents lost their jobs in the process.
"Of course, not all these shortfalls are not due to covid-19 alone. The deteriorating situation associated with budget cuts started a long time ago before COVID-19."
NSFAS is facing a shortfall on it’s funding for 2021,which means that it has been unable to confirm funding for new university students #2021funding https://t.co/TCCFPvEYKH
— HigherEduTrainingZA (@HigherEduGovZA) March 8, 2021
