NSFAS rolls-out Student Centred Model until November
The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has opened applications for the 2017 academic year.
The roll-out for the Student Centred Model - a system which will allow for a direct relationship between NSFAS and its students from registration to the end of their studies - will close on November 30 this year.
The student funding body hopes the new model will help to speed-up the allocation of funds.
NSFAS' Victor Rambau says those who have already applied to the organisation for funding need not re-apply at the institutions they wish to study at.
Rambau says the system will help to eliminate any irregularities that have been occurring over the years.
"We're saying we will now have the ability to do fraud prevention, because with the current paper system you only pick it after the fact. There are students who come from wealthy families, but they end up getting a NSFAS loan, or a NSFAS bursary. And we're saying that now is the time to get rid of these abnormalities in the system," he said.
The new NSFAS system will allow students to apply for funding via their mobile phones and online.
However, the system is among issues students at UKZN have been protesting about this week.