Cape Town - The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) reiterated that there would be no “second window” of applications.
NSFAS spokesperson Kagisho Mamabolo said applications closed on November 30.
“NSFAS has received a record number of applications by the closing date of November 30, 2019. With a total of 543 268 first-time applications (prior year 428 929, a 26% growth) from across the country, with the vast majority of applicants submitting applications online via myNSFAS portal,” Mamabolo said.
This comes after students, organised under the hashtag #OpenNSFAS, started an online petition that wants President Cyril Ramaphosa and Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande to intervene and re-open the applications.
Students have taken to social media to call for the re-opening, and some posting their individual experiences about being accepted at institutions of higher learning, while they lack funding.
Petition organiser Phiwaba Madokwe said: “We have been assisting students in our personal capacity from different institutions with late registrations, with walk-ins and they would now call and say I have been accepted at this institution but I do not have funding. I understand as well that NSFAS was open for a good three months but it still excludes a lot of people.
“And I mean if you are going to allow people to apply in January and February, surely the logic should be that also funding should be made available for those people.”
Madokwe said they would be consolidating the list of signatures before sending the petition to the presidency.
Mamabolo said all applications have been processed over the festive season, and to date 428 377 applications have been approved for NSFAS funding. “
This information is transferred on a daily basis to institutions to identify NSFAS eligible students at the point of registration.”
He said students that wished to appeal the NSFAS ruling to disqualify were invited to appeal in the event that their household circumstances had changed.
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