- At the SONA last evening, President Ramaphosa indicated that the government is close to completing its plans for a new “Comprehensive Student Funding Model.”
- This model will be used to fund the vocational and tertiary education of students who do not meet the criteria for NSFAS funding.
- According to Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande, this new funding model could take the form of a government-guaranteed student loan.
The government wants to continue increasing skills output from the country’s education and training system. This is according to President Cyril Ramaphosa who spoke at the highly publicised State of the Nation Address (SONA) 2023.
Apart from declaring a National State of Disaster due to the ongoing energy crisis, Ramaphosa also said that government would be expanding its vocational education and training system.
“Access to quality education for all is the most powerful instrument we have to end poverty,” Ramaphosa said during the address.
The president added that government is currently planning to finalise the Comprehensive Student Funding Model for young adults seeking to enter higher education but lack the financial means.
This funding model will be independent of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) and will be launched to help students that fall outside the NSFAS’ strict criteria – known as the “missing middle.”
“Missing middle” students are all those who aren’t SASSA grant recipients, whose combined household income is more than R350 000 per annum but still cannot afford all the expenses that come with tertiary education.
In 2022, Higher Education minister Blade Nzimande stated that the comprehensive funding model would “incorporate loan funding options” for these students.
“The proposed ideal model is a wholesale lending scheme, which draws on a range of funding sources and requires the establishment of an independent entity to manage the loans,” the minister added.
He said that while this is not the most affordable model in the short term, in the long term it would allow the government to provide access funding to all students who require it.
So basically, it looks like this funding model will be in line with a government-guaranteed student loan. One that would bolster the options of already available bursaries.
He said that the committee planning this comprehensive student funding model recommended that “government should explore the possibility of a government guarantee for commercial bank loans.”
“This would allow for the funding of missing middle students in particular, ideally from 2023 onwards, and also test the take-up of such loans while other loan models are explored.”
As this funding plan is being finalised, we will await if further changes were made to the recommendations set out by Nzimande or if indeed the government will go forward with a loan-based programme to help students get funding.
According to Nzimande, this new model could mature in the next five years.
In any case, Ramaphosa is right to say that the growth of skills is important for the future of the country, and you only have to check NSFAS comment sections on Twitter to see the many young people rejected by the scheme.
