GEORGE NEWS & VIDEO - Aggrieved second-year students of South Cape College plan to protest today against a lack of funding for accommodation during their first year of studies.

 

 

The students are furious that the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) didn't cover their accommodation last year (2015) for their first year of studies, and they demand a year's back pay.

 

They are unhappy as some of this year's first-year students are reportedly receiving accommodation grants.

 

They also believe that the college has sent back funds that could have been redirected towards the aggrieved parties.

 

Mfundisi says that many students dropped out last year because they could not afford accommodation.

 

 

 

According to South Cape College Principal Elsie Potgieter, management held a three-hour meeting with the students on Monday morning 5 August. "We discussed the facts with them, but unfortunately it is not what they want to hear," she said. "We can only work within the guidelines of the bursary fund. Unfortunately there weren't enough funds last year to assist all the first years with accommodation grants."

 

She explained that the NSFAS bursary allocation is made on an annual basis to the college for a specific financial year. "The 2015 financial year has been closed off, and the NSFAS bursary for 2015 was not sufficient to pay any allowances to the Level 2 students in 2015," she said. "Should the NSFAS allocation decline again in 2017, the college will have to apply the criteria of first tuition fees and then allowances, should there be insufficient NSFAS bursary funding."

 

About monies paid back to NSFAS, Potgieter explained that a bursary is allocated to a specific student. "Should the specific student cancel their programme, or drop out, or not meet the 80% class attendance required - the allocation awarded to the specific student is paid back to NSFAS. The NSFAS guidelines does not allow the college to redistribute the money."

 

She appealed to the community to contribute to a college bursary fund to help assist the students..

 

 

Burning issues addressed by the South Cape College Principle Elsie Potgieter:

1) Why could they not receive the funds last year? Why was that year different than the previous one and the current one?

 

The College receive a NSFAS (DHET bursary fund) allocation annually. The NSFAS bursary allocation to the College is based on the number of students enrolled in the previous year. In 2014 there was a decline in the number of students enrolled at the South Cape College which meant that there was a decline in the NSFAS bursaries that was allocated to the College in 2015. The NSFAS bursary guidelines for 2015 stipulates that the tuition fees is the first priority and that allowances is the second priority. The National Certificate Vocational (NCV) students study for three years (Levels 2, 3 and 4). The Level 2 students received a NSFAS bursary for their tuition fees (class fees) in 2015 but there was no NSFAS funding available to assist them with the accommodation or travel allowances. In 2015 the NSFAS bursaries could only cover the tuition fees, accommodation or travel allowance for existing bursary holders on N2, N3, N5, N6, and NCV Level 3 & 4 students who have not failed more than one subject. The first priority was to ensure that students already in the system will receive the financial support to continue or complete their studies. The Level 2 students NSFAS bursary only covered their class fees. This was clearly communicated to all students.

The College is one of the pilot colleges for NSFAS bursary applications online. Students apply online for a NSFAS bursary or if they do not have internet access they complete a bursary application form which is then captured at the relevant campus on the NSFAS online system. NSFAS approves the bursary should the applicant meet all the NSFAS requirements according to the means test. The NSFAS bursary scheme makes provision for the poor of the poor who needs access to education and training. When the student’s application to NSFAS is approved, the student will receive a SMS from NSFAS with a pin number to accept the Schedule of Particulars (SOP) at NSFAS. The NSFAS bursary will only be paid out if the SOP was accepted by student. The class fees will be paid directly to the College. Should a student receive an allowance for accommodation or travel, the NSFAS guidelines stipulate that the College Student Accommodation must be filled first before students can receive the allowance to acquire private accommodation. Students who stay within a certain radius from the College will be considered for a travel allowance should there be sufficient funding available. If the NSFAS bursary allocation to the college be exhausted before allowances can be paid, it means that the bursary will at least cover the students class fees. The class fees is determined by the Department of Higher Education for the funded programmes (NCV and Nated).

2) Is it true that about R2.4 million were sent back to Nisfas?

When the student’s bursary application was approved and the SOP was accepted by the student the amount allocated is then linked to that specific student. Should the specific student cancel their programme, or drop out, or not meet the 80% class attendance required – the allocation awarded to the specific student will be paid back to NSFAS. The NSFAS guidelines does not allow the College to redistribute the money i.e. if a student drops out the NSFAS bursary for that student cannot be paid to another student, and is paid back to NSFAS. R2 456 962 was paid back to NSFAS due to the reasons as mentioned in this point. The College has to comply with the NSFAS guidelines and could not re-allocate this amount to other students.

The NSFAS bursaries supported 2 534 students with tuition fees and 565 students with allowances in 2015. The NSFAS bursary paid to Level 2 students, at all the campuses of the College, was only received tuition fees – due to the decline in the bursary allocation in 2015. The reasons for this was clearly communicated to the students. There was no additional funding available for allowances. The NSFAS bursaries is allocated annually, per financial year, is reconciled at the end of the financial year, and should there be any balance it has to be paid back to NSFAS. The College will then receive a new allocation in the next year.

3) Do they have any grounds to be unhappy about the situation?

All the level 3 students received the NSFAS bursary allocation for tuition fees and allowance (accommodation or travel) for 2016 if they have met the criteria. The NSFAS allocation to the College declined drastically for 2016 and at the beginning of this year students were informed about the challenges the College experienced due to this decline. This dire situation was brought to the attention of the DHET and the Services SETA then provided additional bursary funding of R8.2 million to assist all the needy students with tuition fees, accommodation or travel allowances. Due to this additional amount provided by the SETA, the College is in a position to pay allowances to Level 2 students in 2016. The Level 3 students indicated that they want to be paid back the allowance they did not receive in 2015 when they were in Level 2. In a three hour meeting with the students yesterday at the George campus, the fact that the NSFAS bursary allocation is made on an annual basis to the College for a specific financial year, was explained to the students. The 2015 financial year has been closed off, and the NSFAS bursary for 2015 was not sufficient to pay any allowances to the Level 2 students in 2015. Should the NSFAS allocation decline again in 2017 the College will have to apply the criteria of first tuition fees and then allowances, should there be insufficient NSFAS bursary funding.

Due to the facts as explained in paragraph 3 the College will not be able to pay back the accommodation for Level 2 students of 2015. Students received an allowance of R19746 (as per the NSFAS guideline) for accommodation for 2016.

5) They claim many students dropped out because their accommodation wasn’t funded last year. Please comment on this.

It might be that students did drop out due to the lack of funding for accommodation. The needs of students at rural colleges are different to the needs of students at urban colleges. There is limited transport facilities and students have to travel long distances to the College and back home. The College has provided the DHET with the challenges the rural students’ faces on a daily basis.

The biggest need at the College is sufficient bursaries to assist poor students to have access to education and training. We need the community (business, industry, organisations and private persons) to understand the dire need of young people in our country to have access to a bursary fund that will be sufficient to cover their tuition fees, accommodation, travel and other cost. If the community can contribute to a College bursary fund we will be able to assist these students more effectively.

 

 

A group of about 70 students gathered in front of the Department of Community Safety in Cathedral Street on Monday to apply for a legal petition. Photos: Michelle Pienaar